


The Long Game

by shutupeccles



Category: Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare, Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Bane Chronicles - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Maureen Johnson
Genre: Angst and Humor, Drama, First Time, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Plot, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-23 21:20:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 47,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6130440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutupeccles/pseuds/shutupeccles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tumultuous relationship between Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood was mostly hinted at. Here is my interpretation of the events behind the hints.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Only the Beginning, but I've Already Gone and Lost My Mind

A few days after the eclectic party at Magnus Bane's loft apartment, Alec Lightwood lay close to death after being poisoned by the Greater Demon posing as Clary Fairchild's neighbour. Environmental stimulus was rare as Alec slipped in and out of consciousness. A soft palm against his forehead felt cool and then warm. Like Alec's hearing and vision, the touch came and went regularly. A soothing voice flowed like syrup. "There are far less lethal ways to get my attention, Shadowhunter. Telephone calls and fire messages, for example. A visit to my apartment, since you know where I live."

"Wonder whether the Silent Brothers appreciate the medical efficacy of flirting patients to full health," Alec's sister Isabelle said snippily.

"Your brother needs a break from magical healing, but not long enough for me to go home or take a nap in the corner. The applications and rests need to consistent to be effective."

"To be honest Magnus," Isabelle said in a far less offensive tone, "I'd let you molest him if it keeps him alive."

The hand, which Alec now knew belonged to the warlock Magnus Bane, left Alec's forehead. "It isn't your consent I seek," that syrup voice told Izzy.

"If I don't answer for him Alec will never..."

"That's his choice."

"Alexander can't live his life as my shield!"

Alec lost audio and visual connection again as demon venom took him for another ride through waves of pain.

~~~

Bottle-blue eyes, the color of collectible cobalt class, finally opened long enough to focus. Magnus inhaled his relief. "Alexander," he said softly.

"Magnus?" Alexander replied with more confusion than alarm then hastily ensured he was properly covered by bedclothes.

His patient's manner immediately put Magnus at ease, so Magnus relayed everything Isabelle had told him of recent events. "The poison hasn't entirely left your system. See?" Magnus moved his hands at an unfortunately safe distance above Alec's body. Blue and red sparks danced between them. "Once these sparks become clear, you will be able to recover properly." And my services will no longer be required.

Alec peered at the damage to his body beneath the covers.

"Your sister removed your clothing and changes your dressings. I'm capable, but if you'd regained consciousness during the process you may have believed I'd been taking advantage. Obviously unwelcome advantage, since you haven't thought to call," Magnus added. He let his eyes wander over the lumpy blankets covering Alec. "Though I would have been more insistent had I known what hid under that ugly sweater."

"Didn't think you were serious," Alec mumbled with a slight pink added to his complexion.

Magnus sat back in the plushly comfortable chair he'd conjured by Alec's bedside and crossed one leg over his opposite thigh. "You know you're gorgeous or you wouldn't take such pains to hide it. For a moment or four at my party you didn't hide, not from me. A fact I found genuinely intriguing, so when your annoying friends came back I hoped it was you. Seeing you almost die before we've properly met, I can do without, but at least now I have this opportunity to get to know you better."

Alec squirmed into a seating position as he protested that "I'm not... I haven't..." then hastily pulled the sheet up as it fell to expose his rune and scar laced chest.

Such a young body should never have to bear so many battle wounds, thought Magnus. Aloud, he said "That doesn't matter. I came as soon as I knew the Sanctuary had been compromised in case I could be of assistance to you. I hadn't expected..."

Alec interrupted. "You were concerned for me even though we'd just met? Why?"

"Instinct insists I'm going to like more than your delightfully pleasant face, and I want you to like me. I know what you've never, Alexander. I also know that you definitely are."

"Am what?" Alec asked.

"Attracted to non-females, and to me. Now that you're awake," Magnus exclaimed with a slap to both thighs as he uncrossed his legs. "Direct skin-to-skin contact isn't strictly necessary for this particular healing magic to work, but it will definitely work a lot faster if I may put my hands on you. So, patient Lightwood, have I permission to touch the most heinous injuries on your exquisite body and apply warlock runes for healing purposes?"

 

~~~

 

It had taken a few days to weigh guilt against hope and conclude that there'd be no harm in accepting the warlock's so obviously whimsical advance. Alec rationalised that he was simply pursuing Magnus as a distraction from the unrequited love Alec felt for his parabatai Jace, while convincing himself that Magnus also sought nothing but a distraction. Yet Alec hadn't felt whimsical when he'd stood in the doorway of the High Warlock of Brooklyn's loft apartment, and hadn't seen whimsy in the amber eyes with vertically slit pupils when Magnus opened the door and let him in. Alec had seen interest, pleasure, and hope, and so had immediately asked Magnus for a date. Alec had been terrified, even after Magnus accepted. Shadowhunters weren't supposed to... to... with Downworlders, particularly not when both Shadowhunter and Downworlder were male.

Alec had a great-great-uncle of some sort who'd married a woman born to an unmarked Shadowhunter and sired by a demon lord, prince, or whatever. On first hearing the legend several years ago, Alec had thought eurgh gross! He had been seeing Magnus for months now and understood how his ancestor had seen the human half of the warlock's heritage, dismissed the demonic as insignificant, and loved the whole. Magnus was far more than a distraction. However, Magnus was also immortal and already centuries old. Alec could never be equally important to him. Yet when they were alone, whether simply talking like yesterday, or kissing lazily while fully clothed on Magnus's bed beneath the green and yellow stained glass window as they were now, then Alec felt as though the depth of affection could be mutual.

Soon he'd be eighteen, a milestone Alec longed for yet dreaded. They could do more than kiss and cuddle then. If Alec meant nothing to Magnus after... because Alec wanted to...

He arched back and put his leg over Magnus as Magnus put another mark on Alec's neck. Magnus slid one hand under Alec's backside. They looked each other in the eye before their lips met again. Alec pushed up against Magnus. Magnus pressed down on top of Alec. They moved and kissed, no longer lazy but with purpose. Alex involuntarily broke the kiss during his climax. Magnus kept the hand on Alec's backside and slid the other beneath Alec's shoulder, bodies still moving against each other until Magnus climaxed too. Magnus wiggled possessively on top of Alec and moaned against his neck as he finished, then held Alec close and whispered that he'd rather they be less dressed next time to avoid staining their clothes. "...and I'd much rather wear your spunk than mine," Magnus added. He looked Alec down then up. "I'd rather have you draped over my naked body as I sleep."

Alec felt as though he was the first person Magnus had said that to, which was horribly improbable, no matter how fervently Alec wished it could be true. He was seventeen and in love with a warlock who looked maybe twenty but was three centuries old, and it hurt. It hurt more than loving Jace. It hurt more than the demon poison Magnus helped extricate weeks ago. For now, Magnus went out of his way to make Alec feel special, because Alec was special to Magnus for now. As an active Shadowhunter, now could be all Alec had, whether he spent it alone or with Magnus.

Alec wrapped an arm and leg around Magnus and then rolled so Alec was on top. "Next time," he said, and kissed Magnus with the promise of all he hoped to give.

 

~~~

 

Magnus realised he definitely considered Alec Lightwood to be 'his' Shadowhunter as he once again found himself accepting an opportunity to be in Alec's presence. Magnus marveled over seeing Alec's blue eyes sparkle brighter than body glitter under the Studio 54 disco ball, and delighted in being the source of light that Alec chose to absorb and reflect. Alec's fear of discovery remained tangible. In true Shadowhunter fashion he fought on for what he believed was right. This Nephilim warrior, so young and inexperienced in terms of physical desire, kissed Magnus boldly and with tenderness despite maintaining a mostly professional distance in the presence of his Shadowhunter peers. He never talked down their connection in private and certainly never described his attraction to Magnus as sordid or disgusting. Several Shadowhunters had done so in the past, in the midst of making sexual advances, no less! Which led Magnus to decline each one with increasing disdain. Until Alec.

Alec turned to subtly search for Magnus during a brief pause in violent activity and smiled at him before once again confronting the immediate demonic threat. The sequence filled Magnus with pride while stoking his curiosity. Would Alec exhibit the same balance of dominance and submission when Magnus claimed his virginity? Magnus had always considered any opportunity to educate an innocent as a remarkable privilege. Further corruption of said innocents was also exquisite fun! For some reason Magnus hoped he could learn with Alec, despite having already performed every sex act known to man along with a vast majority known only to demons and Downworlders.

No, Magnus reasoned. Each experience with Alec would be fresh and unique purely for being with Alec. No other soul contained the same mix of entertainment and peace. The term "soul mate" had been mere piffle before Alexander Lightwood.

_My Shadowhunter, my delight, my Alec - please live to be at least ninety three..._

 

~~~

 

There was no place Alec preferred to be, he thought as he stood out front of the red brick warehouse that contained Magnus's loft and waited for Magnus to answer his phone. Alec had chosen to phone from the street entrance rather than buzz for entry once he found the front door locked, since Alec had always been able to simply wander in on previous visits. This place had begun to feel like home because Magnus felt like home but Alec wasn't sure he could treat Magnus's belongings with such familiarity. He did not want to think of Magnus entertaining an intimate guest, which was possible and therefore entirely heartbreaking. Magnus no doubt expected Alec to spend the entire day of his eighteenth birthday with his family. Having spent most of the day doing what everyone expected of him, Alec hoped to spend the dwindling afternoon and evening with Magnus. He just didn't know how to say it.

Magnus picked up and let him in without hesitation, which meant he'd been alone and Alec could stop hiding his bone-deep panic, because it no longer existed. Magnus pulled Alec close by the drawstrings of Alec's hoodie. Alec eagerly closed the gap and kissed him. His body readily communicated where words had failed. He wanted to celebrate his ascension to adulthood by having sex with the man he loved. Without knowing this, Magnus wished Alec a happy birthday with perfectly hormonal undertones.

"Thanks for remembering," Alec said and suggestively fit himself against Magnus. Magnus knew now.

"Where would you like me to unwrap you?" Magnus asked and stroked both hands up Alec's back then back down to his butt.

"Here," Alec replied, shuffling them toward the violently pink, pouting lip-shaped sofa but making no effort to sit on it. He intended to remain standing while Magnus undressed him so Magnus could see Alec properly naked. Hopefully Magnus would fellate Alec before removing his own clothes.

Magnus unzipped Alec's hoodie and pushed it away from Alec's shoulders and arms before looking him sharply in the eye. "Tell me exactly what you want to happen here Alexander. I will do everything within my power to give it to you."

"I want you to like what you see."

"Done!" Magnus said with a smug smile and lascivious eyes.

"I mean all of me, and without comparing me to anyone else."

Magnus tilted Alec's chin with left forefinger and thumb. "Easily done," Magnus insisted solemnly. "Although that makes it difficult to declare that you are the most beautiful soul, the most incredibly alluring man I have ever known," he added whilst removing Alec's shirt.

Alec laughed lightly. "Sex is guaranteed. There's no need for flattery."

Magnus beamed at Alec. "Ah, because sex is guaranteed you have no cause to mistake my earnest observations for flattery! Now," he leaned close enough put his mouth against Alec's ear, "tell me."

Alec's breathing became deeper and harsher, his skin tingled over his body. "Strip me naked. Use your eyes, hands, and mouth all over my body."

"Are you sure we aren't celebrating my birthday?" Magnus asked as he stepped back with a smile of anticipation equal to Alec's.

Alec laughed again. "Positive, since you'll be sucking my cock."

Magnus growl-moaned against Alec's mouth through a firm kiss. "Hard enough to make you come?" he asked. One hand palmed Alec's erection through his jeans while the other unfastened them. Alec groaned and accidentally bonked his head against Magnus's nose as his body responded to the touch.

"No. I want to come when you fuck me." Alec brushed his fingertips across Magnus's lips while stepping out of his jeans once Magnus had pushed them to Alec's knees. "I want to feel the sweet, warm inside of your mouth, with my dick."

"By every angel in heaven and those that have fallen into hell, I am thoroughly enjoying your birthday!" Magnus touched and kissed Alec from between his eyebrows to his navel as Magnus knelt on the black cushioned rug that had suddenly appeared beneath their feet. "Don't be disappointed if you do come, my lovely. I'll help you recharge and discharge again without ruining your fantasy. No magic or runes required, just your deliciously gorgeous self and my intense desire to pleasure you." Magnus gave Alec's thickened shaft a teasing lick. "Definitely delicious."

Alec thought he might melt into the rug's shag pile as the soft wet heat of Magnus's mouth enveloped Alec's swollen and sensitive head. Alec hissed as Magnus paused there and licked Alec's slit. Then Magnus pressed forward, taking in another inch of Alec, then pulling back to retain only the head between his lips. Alec grabbed the erratically spiked top of Magnus's hair and a shoulder for support as his knees bent involuntarily.

"Are you sure it won't ruin things if I come now?" Alec asked as Magnus bobbed down again. He hadn't expected this to feel so intense.

Magnus pulled off and looked up at Alec. "I promise you." He took hold of Alec's hand and opposite hip. "But if you're that worried about it..."

"There's so much I wanted to do but in reality I don't think we could manage it all today. Would it be rude to focus on the fucking instead of foreplay?"

"We've foreplayed before," Magnus said with a bright chuckle. Alec nudged Magnus on the shoulder to steer him to the sofa. Magnus resisted. "You truly want your first time to be here? You belong in my bed Alexander, and not just during sex."

"I can't stay the night. I have to go home to the Institute. I want to not have to leave after being in bed together. I'm only here for now and 'For Now's do it on the sofa or the floor."

"So you want to be fucked like a tart on my bordello pink sofa?" Magnus asked with a glittery frown.

"Yes actually, I do. I want to get you equally naked, sit on your lap facing you while we kiss and touch each other up, then you stop fingering when you think I'm ready and slip your dick in. I bounce a bit while you pound me... That's an achieveable sexual fantasy, isn't it?"

"Yes," Magnus said with a deep nod. "Yes it is."

"Whenever I have time to stay we can seductively romance each other," Alec promised while helping Magnus to stand before he began removing Magnus's shirt. He moved both hands down Magnus's bare, naturally tan torso, fingers spread to cover ribs with thumbs toward the solar plexus, not flinching or lingering over the lack of belly button that indicated demon heritage.

"Anyone would think I'm as beautiful as you with you looking at me like that," said Magnus.

Alec's gaze snapped to Magnus's unique eyes. "Beautiful" was a powerful adjective to Downworlders and Nephilim. Lightning and fire were beautiful, it meant captivating yet capable of inflicting tremendous pain. Perhaps their relationship was not as imbalanced as Alec feared. "Take me to bed," he told Magnus. Magnus obliged.

 

~~~

 

There'd been no opportunity for Magnus to tidy his bed after leaving it this morning. What with that slimy demon he'd had to summon for a horrid client who'd arrived early then returned late, and phoning his callous warlock friends for advice on what to give Alec for this particular birthday, and... Alec laughed at the grumbled list of excuses. A snap of warlock fingers replaced rumpled sheets with clean linen, colored and textured to complement Alec's dark hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Alec lay shamelessly across the pristine bed, wearing nothing but his permanent runes and that dazzling disco-ball expression. Magnus removed the rest of his clothing and knee-walked across the mattress before flopping carefully on top of Alec and curving their bodies together. Alec's leg tucked behind Magnus's knee. Magnus slid a hand beneath Alec's fair bottom. Half-mast erections slotted into groin grooves then swelled to attention as the lovers kissed and wiggled together.

Magnus took his hand from under Alec to reach for mortal lube. Their first time would be rune and magic free. Those aspects of their lives would be incorporated into their intimate play once Magnus felt familiar enough with Alec's body and desires. Alec was not shy about telling Magnus what felt good and what didn't as Magnus penetrated him with one lubricated finger and then two. "Do that kind of twisty, pumping thing again. The one where you kept your fingers together and... Angels yes! That feels amazing!" Alec exclaimed with a lusty drawl.

"Being with you is amazing," Magnus said. He kept turning his wrist while plunging both fingers in and out of Alec's accommodating hole. "Might need one more before you're ready for cock."

"I could take your two fingers doing me like that all night. When I stay over..." Alec hissed, yelped, and clenched a little in response to the third finger. Magnus cursed his own timing. This was the third or fourth time Alec had mentioned spending the night in future, and Magnus wanted to extend that invitation in a manner that would make it a regular occurrence.

"Oohm, ooh, aah," Alec said while bouncing slightly to get comfortable around the trio of fingers nestling inside him. With the right amount of lubricant and patience, that hungry hole of his could probably take a fist. Magnus got harder and twitched at the thought of Alec spread on his belly or back like a starfish, writhing and moaning with an arseful of magic hand. Not yet, though. Not yet. Getting too far ahead of oneself. Magnus felt Alec relax as he became accustomed to accommodating three fingers in his previously unmolested hole. Still bouncing and "oooh"ing softly, Alec asked if he was ready to be fucked yet. "I'm old enough to be fucked now, Magnus, and I want to be fucked by you. The first night we met, you described yourself as magnificent. Prove it."

Magnus fingered Alec harder. "But you feel so good. I want to keep doing this so I can listen to you try to talk while I finger fuck you. Hear the squelch of of my fingers and lube inside you, the thud of my knuckles against you." Alec moaned and arched slightly in response. "It's all making me horny and hard. Hold your knees up for me and spread those cheeks, delicious one, because I'm going to fuck you now and fill your lube-juicy hole with cum."

Alec did as Magnus asked. Knees raised to his shoulders, feet angled slightly to either side, hands on his buttocks. Magnus expressed appreciation for the view. "Don't you dare reach for your phone," Alec declared sharply but with a rather pleased smile, happy to hold Magnus in thrall. His smile became something else as he reached toward Magnus and grasped him by the darkened tan erection. Magnus let his eyes close and pushed lazily through the circle of Alec's hand. He'd never encountered such a physically and verbally expressive virgin. He opened his eyes to see Alec staring at the hand-job, then Alec looked Magnus in the eye. "Is that how you'll move inside of me?" Alec asked in wonder. His eyes moved to the motion again.

"At first. Until you're used to me. Then I'll tap you like a jackhammer." Magnus grinned and was delighted by Alec's confident laugh. "Want to help guide me in?" Magnus asked softly. Alec nodded and shifted slightly on his back. "You hold the base and I'll hold the tip. This way you can control how deep I go to begin with." Magnus took extra care penetrating Alec despite Alec's eager confidence. Partly because Magnus liked the way Alec held him, mostly to savor Alec's reactions. Magnus kept his eyes on Alec's face, watching him grimace through the initial push and stretch. Alec's eyes opened wide and he grunted as the flared head of Magnus's penis gained entry and locked in behind Alec's still tight ring of muscle.

"No matter how many fingers you put in me, it will _never_ feel like that."

Magnus smiled at Alec and nudged gently. Alec made a small sound of pleasure and smiled back. "I could fuck you with just the tip," said Magnus, nudging several times to prove it and loving how much Alec enjoyed it. "Another time. One of those long nights you stay over, perhaps."

"That would be perfect," Alec replied. He took his hand from Magnus's shaft to curve it around Magnus's ribs. Magnus took that as an invitation to press deeper and slowly slid full-length into Alec. Alec's body reflexively tried to push out this long, thick intrusion, but Alec fought against that reflex. Magnus felt it all and began languidly fucking his ingenue. "Ohh all the Angels in heaven, holy, holy fuck!"

" _You_ are a holy fuck, my deliciously horny Angel warrior. I, being demon spawn, am an _un_ holy fuck."

"You're a _magnificent_ fuck. Oh my stele! Is it always like this?"

Magnus knew from experience that it wasn't. This combination of innocence, confidence, comfort, and fun, was unique to Alec. Magnus didn't know how to express that in the moment. Being centuries old didn't always provide a wittily romantic turn of phrase when needed. Instead, Magnus said "No. Sometimes it's like this," and quickened his thrusts.

Alec dug the fingers of one hand into Magnus's hair and the other into his back. His knees squeezed and flexed over Magnus's shoulders. The sounds he made were equally encouraging. Without magic to keep Magnus's excitement in check, he had no choice but to let Alec's responses bring him to rapid climax. It was all over too soon, but the wonderful thing was the way they grabbed each other's shoulders and arched back at the same time, making it appear as though Magnus ejaculated into and then out through Alec. Alec's cum hit them both in random speckles after the initial spurt shot Magnus beneath the chin.

"You are magnificent," Magnus boldly told Alec. He touched Alec's sweaty, gasping face with deep affection, and added "We're magnificent," before softly kissing Alec's mouth.

Alec shifted his legs and wrapped them around Magnus's thighs, embracing him tightly and responding with a breathless kiss that made Magnus melt and moan against him. Magnus sucked and bit a bruise into the skin below Alec's jaw. Alec shivered against him while he did it. They kissed again.

"When exactly do you have to leave?" Magnus asked as they cuddled and kissed some more.

"Too soon."

"Anytime you leave is too soon." Magnus closed his eyes against the tickling thrill of Alec's fingertips caressing his spine. He'd either lose his mind or ravish Alec again if the touching didn't stop. Magnus moved slightly to the side and clasped Alec's hand over Alec's chest.

"Returning to the Institute feels more like going to another location for work. I like being here."

Magnus propped himself up on one hip and used one finger from their joined hands to circle Alec's nipple. "Are you sure this isn't my birthday?" he asked while smiling directly into Alec's eyes. "Have I been locked in some fantasy-generating chamber so the Shadowhunter Clave can spy on my deepest desires?"

"You'd like me to live with you?" Alec asked in awe. "And ask you for sex?" he quipped with a teasing, satisfied smile that made Magnus's heart dance a combination tango-Flamenco.

"The two desires are not dependent on each other, but yes! Please do so, whenever you're ready for either!"

Magnus was once again dazzled by Alec's disco-ball smile. "You should shower before leaving," he said with a loving rub and pat to Alec's naked thigh. "Preferably now, before I make the decisions regarding cohabitation and sex for you and keep you here. Mmm," he gave Alec's exposed body an appreciative look. He wanted to lick. "Naked and at the mercy of my mouth, which I want to put all over you." Magnus took note of Alec's slack jaw and glazed eyes. "Oh good, you're imagining that!"

Alec chuckled. He caressed Magnus's jaw and looked him in the eye. "Why was I so scared of this? You're perfect. Actually," Alec added, "it isn't you I've been afraid of."

"The Clave," Magnus said under a breath.

"I'd better have that shower and head out before someone from the Institute comes looking for me. You'd be accused of... and they'd strip my Marks."

Magnus caught hold of Alec's wrist as Alec left his bed. "I won't allow that. I'd take your memories of me before..."

"I'd rather be stripped of my Marks," Alec insisted like the toning of a heavy bell.

Magnus let him go to the shower rather than argue the point. Magnus had heard Edmund Herondale being stripped of his Shadowhunter Marks for daring to marry and impregnate a mundane, had witnessed the devastating result on the young man's personality and family. Nephilim were sickeningly cruel to their own. Magnus vented over their injustices while putting fresh sheets on the bed, without magic. Alec should not have to face either choice. Magnus left the pillow slips as they were so he could hold them and smell Alec's scent as he slept, since he couldn't cuddle Alec during the night. Alec was almost done in the shower when Magnus joined him in the over sized cubicle, which had two shower heads that could be adjusted to create a cross-spray. Alec, being Alec, had only turned on one. Their eyes met as Magnus turned on the other. Alec's expression apologised for ending their gloriously intimate evening on a sombre note. Magnus looked Alec over whilst reverently touching particular Marks.

"I like what I see," Magnus solemnly stated and then looked Alec in the eye again, still touching. "I like having you here. I'd like you to access everything in this loft the way you use the coffee machine - without seeking permission."

Alec leaned forward from the waist to kiss Magnus and thanked him softly. He briefly held Magnus's hand against his torso before raising it to his lips and kissing the palm. "Thank you," he said again and then hurriedly left the shower, grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapped it around his waist and headed into the living room for his clothes.

The scent of coffee eventually pervaded the sandalwood perfumed steam of the bathroom, and alleviated the hollow feeling in Magnus's chest, even though he heard the apartment door close soon after. Wrapping the remaining towel around his waist and leaving his head bare (Magnus normally used the second towel for a turban) Magnus followed the coffee aroma and smiled at the cream and brown cat face Alec had drawn in the frothy milk layer with the handle of the spoon.

"You beautiful boy!" Magnus exclaimed softly and sipped at the brew so lovingly prepared especially for him.

 

~~~

 

Alec regretted the need to shower before leaving so abruptly. He'd much preferred to have lingered and found a Clave-acceptable reason to stay with Magnus. He refused to use salve or runes to relieve the lingering tenderness in intimate places. It had happened, all of it, and Alec latched onto any excuse to contact Magnus, and visited his loft whenever possible. Five hours of "hey do your magic thing" with the others, fifteen minutes of getting fucked against the kitchen counter beside the coffee machine while it did its thing, or fifty seconds reading a detailed text, every moment involving Magnus became the highlight of Alec's day.

Then Magnus stopped returning Alec's private texts and calls. He still responded to those pertaining to Shadowhunter/Downworlder/Get-Valentine-Hence business. Alec's simple "can I come over?" went unanswered, as did his follow up voicemail in case Magnus had missed the text, yet Magnus had replied to or acted on everything in between. Alec had clearly been either too forward or not slutty enough to hold the High Warlock's interest. He wanted to tell his siblings and Clary to contact a warlock to form the necessary portal to Idris themselves, but then they'd ask why he was suddenly unwilling to be their direct link to Magnus. It would be horrible enough for rebelliously promiscuous Isabelle to know what her older brother had done. For Jace to even suspect there'd been more than frequently mild making out going on...

Alec outwardly accepted that it was over, hid the fact that his heart had been torn to shreds, and sent the fire message requesting a portal. He maintained physical distance from Magnus once he arrived, yet felt his soul reach for the lover who'd rejected him. Alec sharpened his focus on Jace. They were Nephilim. The parabatai connection took precedence. Jace's suffering was greater and Valentine was gathering Mortal Instruments. The world didn't stop for foolish boys to nurse broken hearts, but it remained their responsibility to save it.

 

~~~

 

Magnus looked at the fire message and listened to Alec's final voicemail on his phone as he sat in one corner of his current sofa, (cream and gold upholstery this week), and continually plucked the tasseled ends of his very yellow muslin scarf. Individual threads were liberated to the chant of "he loves me; he's paying for my services using sex; he's using me for sex..." They'd never left this couch the last time Magnus allowed Alec in. Slow kissing led to slow riding which became explosively vigorous once Alec etched a stamina rune onto his inner thigh. Magnus absently touched the ghost of Alec's cum stain on the arm of the sofa. Alec had begun to doze off on top of Magnus during their afterglow, only to jolt to full alert and flee just as Magnus had come to believe he'd stay. The Alec in the voicemail sounded uncertain as to why he wanted to hear from Magnus, which didn't help. Magnus scowled and removed "he loves me" from the thread-harvesting litany and deleted the entire history with Alec from his phone with one pinkie-nail while continuing to pluck his scarf. He should delete Alec's number, too, since Magnus was incapable of denying every official request in case this was the time Alec would spontaneously acknowledge their relationship in front of his siblings. Magnus knew for a fact that Isabelle was fully aware and equally supportive! His heart still danced the lambada whenever Alec's name and personalised ringtone lit up the phone.

Magnus hadn't expected to fall in love with Alec, yet once he did he'd expected it to be mutual. Foolish, retro-adolescent behavior! Magnus sighed in agitation. He would create this portal to get Clary Fairchild and every Lightwood into Idris and out of his ludicrously sexy hair! Then he'd never deal with Alec again.

 

~~~

 

Alec had wanted to confront Magnus, demand acknowledgement, but couldn't risk Jace, Izzy, and (worst of all) Simon overhearing Magnus list Alec's failings as a boyfriend. Boyfriend? Alec stopped kidding himself. He'd believed they were mutually committed, else he'd never have... or... and most certainly not... But Magnus proved the extent of Alec's folly by coldly doing what was asked of him, only showing accessible emotion when ensuring Simon survived the raid by shoving him through the portal. He'd ignored Alec entirely. Alec called on years of experience at supressing emotion and got on with what needed doing. Acquired skills weakened without practice, as Alec was reminded when Jace asked what was going on between Alec and Magnus.

"There isn't anything, anymore," Alec admitted to avoid lying to his parabatai. There was no way he was confiding further.

 

~~~

 

Demons in the Nephilim city of Alicante! Perhaps this world really was coming to an end, Magnus thought as he fought off the nearest batch. He swiftly amended that thought to _his_ world had finally come to the end, since he was sorely outnumbered. But then Alec had the nerve to jump into the fray and go all sexy kickarse Shadowhunter as though he actually cared whether Downworlders lived or died.

"Did you just save my life?" Magnus asked after dispatching the remaining Iblis demons. Instead of providing a verbal opening for flirtatious banter, as Magnus hoped, Alec replied with a wavering question.

"Why didn't you call me back? I called you so many times and you haven't called me back." The quaver in Alec's voice contradicted the confidence displayed in battle.

Magnus was stunned. "Your city is under attack and the streets are full of demons. And you want to know why I haven't called you?" Magnus went into a rant about only being wanted around when Alec and his idiotic friends needed something, watching Alec be in love with someone who would never love him the way Magnus did...

"You love me?" Alec asked in a way that made Magnus wish they were in his comfortable kitchen, not a city square soaked with demon ichor.

Magnus couldn't keep ranting at his lovely lost lamb. Scattering glitterbombs - he was so smitten he'd begun thinking in alliteration! Magnus softened his voice and patiently listed every non-sexual action he'd taken to demonstrate how he felt about Alec. "And all completely free of charge!"

"I never looked at it that way," Alec admitted.

"You never looked at it anyway!" Magnus retorted and then found the ability to rant some more about the lack of acknowledgement. This one was cut short by the arrival of a dozen more Iblis demons. Alec's jaw dropped, but Magnus could see by the movement of Alec's summer sky eyes that he was already engaged in battle, so was surprised when Alec quipped a promise to introduce Magnus to his entire family if they survived.

 

~~~

 

They ran to the Gard building, always alert for further demon activity and discarded weapons.

"I'm not the only one with a narrow perspective here," Alec said, pausing to ensure an intersection was clear before darting across with Magnus by his side. "Did you ever consider why I always called on you to join our plans before we'd thought things through?"

"Uh, hm: because I'm the only warlock you know; you sought a semblance of adult supervision; and I made it clear from the start that I think you're hot?"

Alec smiled briefly. "How else could I know that the people I care most about are willing to trust and protect each other if I fail? How else would you get to know each other, understand, and accept...? If you and Izzy and Jace can't get along, how can I tell them, how can they see why I love you? Why did you think I found so many excuses to see you without them? I'm not Izzy or Jace. I can't publicly attach myself to someone's face and not worry about making unwilling witnesses uncomfortable. I hate being near other people when they're making out," Alec added with a deeply disgusted grimace. Magnus laughed at this last admission. Alec reached out to touch his wrist as the reached the Gard stairs. "Every request gave me a reason to be with you. Thought you'd see through that since you're three hundred years old."

"I barely felt twenty once I suspected you'd been using me as a substitute."

"How could you believe that? I haven't loved Jace in that way since we began dating. Didn't my texts and voicemails...?

Magnus shook his head. "You seemed even more confused than I felt."

"I thought the novelty had expired or the rune thing put you off. I could hardly think about anything besides what I must have done wrong, and the only person I could ask wasn't talking to me!"

Magnus brought Alec into an embrace.

Alec looked up at the doors. His family would be in there, and members of the Clave who would refuse to understand. "Do you still know this isn't going to work?" Alec asked against Magnus's shoulder. "Because I finally know the difference between having a crush and being in love."

"With the ways you continually surprise me? I may never be certain of anything ever again." Magnus kissed Alec's forehead. "Check on your family, Alexander. I know you can't concentrate on us until you know they're safe. Contact me as soon as you can. Fire messages still work in Alicante. I promise to reply."


	2. Tender is the Day the Demons Go Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The romantic getaway

Fire messages were deceptively complex examples of magic, invented centuries ago by High Warlock of London, Ragnor Fell. Once written on, the enchanted paper would combust with the flame's life-cycle reversed once it reached the recipient. If handled correctly, one piece of paper could be reused indefinitely. The written messages were by nature transient. Magnus had spent a full weekend of April 1897 diligently timing how long the writing lingered, without once achieving a duplicate result. Ragnor refused to reveal the secret. He had, however, taught Magnus how to preserve a message. The letter received from Alec after they'd parted ways at the Gard did not contain details for a reconciliatory tryst. It contained his heart. Alec's brother Max, too young to be Marked, had been murdered by a Shadowhunter during the demon invasion.

_I'd placed him directly in the care of his murderer so I could fight. I need to stay and comfort Izzy and our parents, but my presence can only make things worse because it's my fault Max is dead. I need to be near you now more than before, and I've needed to be near you since our first conversation. But I don't deserve to feel any of the things I feel when I'm around you. I'm responsible for the worst thing that has happened in my family's tormented history. I treated him like an inconvenience. No wonder he ~~prefers~~ has always preferred Jace. If I'd listened to Max instead of ignoring him, we'd all have been alert, and I wouldn't have destroyed my family. There's no way I can make this right. This is why I can't see you. At least now you have a genuine reason to never see me again._

_Too much of my love, Alec_

Magnus could see all of that in Alec's posture as he'd stood and walked through the crowds of Nephilim, werewolves, warlocks, and fairies - oh my! He watched Alec burn Clary's Alliance rune into his darker palm with complete trust. Alec had taken Magnus for granted because Alec trusted him, and trust was clearly a big deal to this beautiful and youthful Shadowhunter.

"I wonder if Clary can invent a permanent version," Alec said as he released Magnus and began repeating the same rune on the back of his own hand. "Then our bond would be as strong as parabatai and you'd know you can always rely on me. Not that I'm any genuine use to you," Alec stated plainly, as though it were par for the course. His stele moved confidently to complete the matching rune.

Magnus felt nineteen or twenty again and in love for the first time, caught up in simply watching Alec be Alec, so was taken by surprise when Alec slotted his stele away in its special holster then threw both arms around Magnus to publicly kiss him. It wasn't a shy, hesitant, or to-Hell-with-the-consequence kiss, but bold and strong. Magnus gradually responded, suspecting Alec had reapplied Clary's Fearless rune before approaching him. Once the kiss ended he could see all of Alec's fears in eyes the blue of summer afternoon skies. He placed his unMarked palm on Alec's cheek, turning the other up to look at the rune.

"I wanted to pounce in front of you and whoop "Pick me!" with emphatic hand gestures, but had to let this be _your_ choice. I'll admit I was afraid you'd choose someone else, because you're not as loud as the others. Or me. I'm definitely the opposite of subtle. You show you care by being cautious. I'm just going to have to remember that and not demand you publicly announce everything in bold type."

" _Capslocked_ bold type," Alec amended. "And I thought I'd been particularly loud and obvious when we were alone. If you consider that subtle..."

"I consider that perfect."

It'll be more perfect once I don't have to leave afterward. I meant all that about staying over. It wasn't just pillow talk."

"I _love_ that movie! Doris Day ...!"

"You're going to make me watch it in bed with you, aren't you?" Alec complained. Then he smiled.

Magnus went into a veritable swoon. "I won't be much use in the upcoming fight with you being so gorgeous and within reach of my stunningly adorned grabby, grabby hands," Magnus told Alec. Alec took hold of one of those hands and didn't let go until the allied fighters received instructions and were let loose against the demonic horde.

Unlike the majority of Downworlder/Shadowhunter pairs, Alec and Magnus kept each other visible, peripherally if not directly, and were already familiar with their partner's technique. Magnus knew Alec favored a cautious approach, thus increasing his chances of surviving in order to protect those he loved, not in the current fight but in the next, and the next. He felt Alec's influence guiding his decisions through the connection of the rune and wondered what Alec gained from the Alliance. Snazzy dress sense and sassy backchat wouldn't help much here. Alec barely paused, pursuing every demon in sight with Magnus by his side, allowing Alec room to use Seraph blades as well as bow and arrow. Magnus could have dispatched many more, some of which were siblings of sorts from other realms, but preferred watching Alec in action. Brothers Gideon and Gabriel Lightwood had also favored bow over sword. Cecily Herondale, who'd married Gabriel, provided Alec's bloodline with the blue eyes and dark hair that Magnus found so captivating. Alec ultimately inherited Gabriel's reserve and Cecily's passion with only some physical resemblance to her brother Will. Magnus had been with vampire bitch-about-town Camille Belcourt and then werewolf Woolsey Scott in that era. Of all the Herondales, Lightwoods, and Fairchilds Magnus had known then and since, Alec burned brightest in his affection. For all his warrior training and Nephilim prejudice, he possessed the class and empathy of Woolsey, who had been a gentleman indeed and created the Praetor Lupus organisation to help fledgling werewolves and vampires retain their souls despite their bodily changes.

The battle against Valentine's demons was brutal yet short since, for reasons unknown, the invaders suddenly vanished into their home realms or fled. Magnus helped Alec retrieve his arrows and tend to wounded as they retraced their path through the City of Glass.

"When I first properly understood that I was gay," Alec said without fuss while wiping ichor from an arrow, but managing to startle Magnus anyway, "I didn't think 'poor me'. I thought: Poor Max. One of our English ancestors allegedly died of Demon Pox..."

"Not allegedly. Some dear friends of mine were there during the final phase when he turned into a giant worm and ate his son-in-law. Would have been tragic if he wasn't a heinously hypocritical hate-monger. His behavior is more than worthy of that terrible alliteration."

"Much as I treasure this revelation from your past - and I do - you need to not interrupt this time."

Magnus made a graceful bow of apology and Alec continued.

"You also have direct knowledge of our parents involvement in Valentine's Circle, their disgrace. They're still considered traitors. Isabelle dates any Downworlder to prove she doesn't support anything our parents did before being banished to the New York Institute. Then there's me. Even if Max had proven to be the most talented and well-adjusted Shadowhunter in history, he'd be sneered at because of his family." Alec had to open the fingers Magnus had tightly wrapped around the last arrow in order to retrieve it. Magnus drank in Alec's features as Alec checked the fletching. "You accused me of being selfish for publicly insisting we weren't dating, but the opposite is true. It was selfish to insist on being alone with you, allowing myself that freedom." Alec reached back to put the arrow into his quiver with the others they'd scavenged. "Now Max is dead," Alec said heavily. He let Magnus see his sorrow by not turning away. "I didn't know that when I made that promise to you and, although it's irrational, I can't help feeling that I caused his death. That I subconsciously wished for it somehow because I don't care what my parents think about me being with you. I cared what Shadowhunters and Downworlders would say to and about Max. Telling Izzy and our parents that we were a couple would never be as big a deal as introducing you as my boyfriend to my baby brother." Alec glanced away and then back again. "Am I your boyfriend?" he asked without a hint of challenge.

"I most certainly hope so," Magnus replied around a lump of emotion. He took hold of Alec's hand so their Alliance Marks touched. Alec did not pull away.

"Then come meet what's left of my family," he said.

 

~~~

 

If the Lightwoods hadn't seen Alec and Magnus during the formation of the Alliance, they would have been told about it before Alec returned, and most probably by detractors rather than friends. Magnus could feel Alec brace himself for confrontation as Maryse and Robert Lightwood approached Alec and his friends, and so immediately stashed the sparkling blue headband he'd conjured specifically for teasing Alec. Maryse hugged her children, not fiercely like Jocelyn would envelope Clary, but her relief and love were no less tangible. Magnus approved and chose not to interfere with the family reunion. A glance and finger gesture from Alec asked Magnus to stay. Once the "We're so glad you're alive!" moment had passed, Alec spoke up.

"I tried to tell you both something important before but you insisted it wasn't the time. We're Shadowhunters, there may never _be_ time for anything that doesn't involve death. Life is important too, and while Max would probably be nine year-old thankful for not having to hear this, I'd much rather he was." Alec didn't reach for Magnus or make a possessive gesture indicating him. He didn't need to. His earnest words were enough. "Magnus and I are in a relationship. A very serious, if occasionally unstable, relationship."

"How serious?" Maryse asked before Magnus could swoon over Alec's poignant turn of phrase.

"We began simple dating when I was seventeen. I instigated because I found him fascinating, not as an act of adolescent rebellion."

"I would never have accepted Alec into my life if he'd been that kind of man," Magnus said fondly and with pride. Alec's expression proved they'd exchanged hearts with these declarations. He turned back to his somberly quiet parents.

"Before and immediately after our recent upheaval, we discussed sharing his apartment. Only occasionally to begin with, but whenever that happens we'll be sleeping in the same room. Same bed," Alec added with quiet determination.

Magnus suppressed the reflexive 'more than sleeping' retort because Alec was being bravely gracious to everyone's feelings on the matter. The urge to kiss him was enormous. Alec had said "we'll" as in " _we will_ be sharing a bed", not 'we would be' which could be interpreted as 'might be'. Alec wasn't seeking permission from his parents. He was telling them! Maryse looked slightly sad but put on a brave face to smile at Magnus and shake his hand while keeping close to Alec. Her body language was protective of her son without threatening Magnus. Maryse clearly believed this wouldn't last and was already preparing to pick up pieces of a predicted broken heart. Until that happened, she would support him. Magnus admired her for that, so his return smile and handshake were thoroughly genuine. He didn't touch Alec, ogle him or gush about him, although in his imagination Magnus had whirled Alec into his arms and was singing his praises like the pinnacle number of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical. Magnus danced in the role of Ginger, of course. Alec could never produce the level of flounce required, yet was definitely debonair enough to pull off an Astaire.

Robert Lightwood's reaction quashed that image. His handshake and mild expression were lies trimmed with menace. He believed Magnus was taking advantage of a phase in Alec's development. Downworlder or not, no _man_ could be Alec's life partner. Magnus knew from experience that paternal disapproval tended to be greater in such circumstances. He also knew Robert would get the rudest awakening because men like Alec, once out to this degree, never retreated into the closet or feigned hetero preference. Alexander Gideon Lightwood would share his adult life with a man, whether or not that lucky man was Magnus Bane. Magnus shook Robert's hand firmly and introduced himself formally. "Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn. I'm honored to be deeply in love with your son Alexander, and have the extreme privilege of being loved by him in return."

Then Alec linked his arm with Magnus's and gave Isabelle a rather bashful victory smile as they walked from the hall. Beautiful Alec, with his drab clothing, Studio 54 smiles, rainbow laughter, and unique blend of solemnity and passion. Magnus felt suddenly sad. Shadowhunters were like fire letters, burning with exquisitely vivid color for a wretchedly short amount of time. Worse yet, they were people, and so there was no way to preserve one exactly as you received it. Alec would continue his avid learning as he matured, perpetually changing based on every new experience and piece of knowledge. Magnus looked forward to witnessing Alec's progression, yet feared some event may turn Alec against him and toward someone else, or worse: forge Alec into someone unrecognisable. Taking steps to make Alec immortal could only end badly. For now, they found a gore-free bench to share with the apathetic starlight. Wrapped tightly around each other, they kissed, pausing to whisper further apologies as well as declarations of forgiveness and love.

"When will you live with me?" Magnus asked after he'd moved to lay along the bench with his exhausted and shoulders in Alec's lap.

"When Jace no longer needs a babysitter."

"Will either of us love that long?" Magnus quipped forlornly and the both chuckled softly.

"When Izzy can cope with having our mother home at the Institute without Max. When Mom can cope with being home without Max. Although, they'll have Jace, so they won't really _need_ me. It's probably best if I'm not there, actually."

Magnus picked at some frayed threads one of the holes in Alec's manky sweater. His fighting gear was tailored to fit perfectly and meticulously maintained in direct contrast to his casual garments. Was Alec aware of wearing shabby clothes to represent his perceived inferiority to Isabelle and Jace, even to Max?

"If you doubt that your family needs you, Alexander, believe that I do. Come away with me. We can see the world without having to save it. For a short time at least, since like your parabatai it seems to require constant supervision."

Alec chuckled again and bent down to kiss Magnus again. "I'll talk it over with Iz."

Magnus sat up, then stood and offered Alec his hand. "Don't be surprised if your sister starts packing your bag before you finish asking if she minds."

 

~~~

 

Isabelle sat primly attentive on the edge of Alec's bed while he tried to put his thoughts into words. He got as far as "Magnus invited me to go away with him..." and Izzy jumped to her feet, clapping her hands while drumming her weaponised boot heels in delight before dragging Alec to his wardrobe to pack. "Yuck, none of these are suitable!" Izzy declared after a quick rummage and flipped open her phone. "Buy my brother some decent clothes during your itinerant nookie-thon. Not that he'll be needing them til he gets back," she added archly.

"Isabelle!" Alec scolded, face and neck heated.

Izzy laughed darkly. "Make sure Alec has an opportunity to buy me at least _one_ souvenir. Hotel toiletries or manchester will _not_ suffice!" Izzy blinded Alec with a dimpled smile while closing her phone with a smug snap, which she then pointed at him. "It's about time you took a break from looking after me and the boys to do something for yourself." Her smile faltered slightly, but Isabelle caught it before Alec could respond. "What happened to our brother is not your fault. I trusted that evil slimy worm of pubic cheese to help me protect Max inside the house while you were outside trying to protect all of us. If you _ever_ insult my favorite person in the universe again - which is you by the way, not myself - I will apply my whip to your insanely sexy boyfriend's nether realm. If Magnus hasn't managed to assuage your misplaced guilt by the time you get back, I will _not_ be merciful."

Alec gave his sister's long hair a gentle tug. "Iz..."

"You're our big brother, not our father, and have handled adult responsibilities without enjoying the benefits for months. Being with Magnus makes you both happy. I won't let our parents forbid you from taking this trip. I mean it Alec. Clary, Jace, and I will arrange a portal to Magnus and shove you through if we have to!" Izzy gave Alec's fringe an affectionately teasing tug. "I _will_ miss you dreadfully, so you'd better relax and enjoy yourself to stop me worrying. Now then," she clapped her hands together sharply and headed back to Alec's wardrobe. "Let's hope you have some decent underwear!"

 

~~~

 

It was difficult not to laugh at the way Isabelle grinned next to Alec and held her brother's suitcase out to Magnus as they approached the portal Magnus was creating behind the red-brick warehouse. "Do everything I would and then a variety of things I most certainly wouldn't," she told Alec and kissed his cheek. "Don't hurry back, but be sure to send me regular updates of everywhere you go - not necessarily anything you do."

"Iz," Alec grunted in warning.

Isabelle made a scoffing sound. "Don't pretend this is a sight-seeing trip Alexander! You'll be gone for weeks and have barely packed enough clothes for three days!"

"I'm not you or Jace. I don't need to be able to construct a minimum of five potential outfits per day in case I change my mind! I'm also capable of doing my own laundry!" Alec abruptly hugged his sister. "I'll miss you," he admitted, but Isabelle didn't let him escape directly.

"You call or text first, so I know I'm not interrupting when I call. Otherwise Jace and I'll be contacting you all the time over trivial stuff because we've never gone a full day without being scolded before."

Magnus failed to properly disguise his chortle. It was almost a shame to bring this exchange between siblings to an end. "Ready?" he asked Alec.

Isabelle stepped back and waved as Alec took hold of Magnus's hand. His grip was warm and firm. "Ready," Alec replied and smiled at Magnus with anticipation, trust, and love.

Ready, Magnus thought, and escorted Alec through the portal.

 

~~~

 

Their itinerary combined negotiated destinations with surprise. Alec had no idea where they landed first, only that sunset approached as they arrived on the silty beach. They made love in the shallows of a fresh water estuary beneath the dark purple sky as the first stars became visible. The heat of Magnus in contrast to the cool water increased Alec's sensitivity to every point of bodily contact. Alec hadn't expected such gently romantic reunion sex. It was satisfying to know they didn't need it fervent or rough to prove how badly they'd missed being together. They spent the first night in a shelter made of thin logs, branches, and fronds. No walls, just four corner posts that supported a slightly raised floor and a roof. Alec and Magnus burned runes specific to their individual heritage into the posts and the underside of the floor. There was intimacy in performing the overlapping protections and each felt doubly secure. Their bed was a thin rattan mat covered with two pieces of light yellow fabric for sheets, and a long, iridescent green, tubular cushion with red tassels for a shared pillow. Alec suspected these finer details weren't traditional to the area, judging by the material, weave, and oh-so-Magnus color scheme. He didn't care. The simplicity of the bedding in comparison to what they had at home implied that all they truly needed to be comfortable was each other.

Alec sent a photo of the accommodation to Iz in the morning, before Magnus took him to Aotearoa for breakfast.

 

~~~

 

"It's commonly known as New Zealand now, but it was Aotearoa - "land of the long white cloud" the first few times I came here, and I think that's just perfect. Almost very climate is represented across these two small islands," said Magnus as they waited for their food to arrive, then proved it with a tour. There were townships set up to mirror various cultures from around the world, including Dutch, and tiny mountains that Alec scornfully described as hills. "They're small because they're far older than the mountains you're used to," Magnus told him.

Everywhere they went brought a lesson in geography, geology, theology, or human behavior. Magnus was so emotionally involved in each telling that Alec felt compelled to listen and absorb. "You're a far superior teacher than Hodge ever was, a better man too," Alec said as they relaxed in a lake of warm, bubbling volcanic mud. The stench released whenever bubbles popped was slightly demonic but the other sensations were too pleasant for that to matter. "Can we spend the rest of our getaway here?" he asked lazily.

"Should I install a mudhole in our ensuite for you to wallow in when we get home?" Magnus teased. Alec flicked mud so it speckled his gorgeously tan face. "Not the hair!"

 

~~~

 

Night in Aotearoa brought a quest. Magnus gave nothing away until they entered an elevated valley and found what he said was a track and bowl system, which was basically a rough, shallow bowl shape dug into the dirt against natural stone wall, facing across the valley, with two narrow pathways leading from it.

"Empty," Magnus murmured mournfully. "Hopefully he's just moved house." He stood and performed some magic which, by the feel of it, relaxed some shielding wards. Then he led Alec several strides from the bowl to sit and wait.

"Um," Alec whispered after a quiet few seconds. "Who's not home?"

"The last male kakapo."

"And who is he?"

Magnus grinned at him. "You said 'he' and not 'it'. I'm glad. _He_ is a flightless parrot, similar in size to the dodo. That," Magnus pointed back to the shallow depression, "is his usual booming hole. They're normally solitary creatures, antisocial to a fault given their shrivelled population. During the mating cycle, males build and sit in one of those to ... "

They both looked across the valley as it reverberated with what surely must be the single beat of an enormous heart.

"That!" Magnus exclaimed with delight. He leapt to his feet and hauled Alec up with shining enthusiasm. "Now to pinpoint his location and ... " The enormous heart beat again. "...bring him his woman!"

"A _parrot_ is making that sound?" Alec asked with some trepidation as he followed Magnus around the rim of the valley.

"Not just any parrot, a kakapo! That booming call is his version of a "hey sexy, come over" text. You hear it as clearly as I do because of your Angel blood. It barely touches the threshold of mundane hearing." Magnus licked a finger and raised it high above his head then brought it down to chest level and turned in an arc, pointing from one side of the valley to the other until his fingertip shone iridescent pink. "There's the Mrs! Now to find her Mr..."

Alec stared at him in amazement. "Magnus Bane: High Warlock of Brooklyn and endangered species dating service!" Alec declared with a proud grin.

Magnus smiled, his teeth like two rows of pearls in the dim night light.

Alec's joy dimmed as the bird's call again echoed hollowly through the night. "You should have called me back, told me what was wrong. I kept calling..." He swept his arm toward the vague source of the sound to signify: like the lonely bird.

Without speaking, Magnus brought Alec close and kissed him solidly before pulling Alec onto his lap as he knelt back on his haunches. They fumbled about inside each other's clothes without undressing. Magnus's touch was possessive as he rubbed and clutched at Alec inside his shirt and then down the back of his jeans, sucking and rubbing teeth over Alec's neck while fingering his arse. Alec was unable to do anything but gasp and roll his spine in response.

"You came for me in Alicante when I didn't expect it, Alec. You're close to coming for me now. I expect you to come for me wherever we are, without hesitation, whether I'm deep inside you or you're deep inside me, beneath a shroud of blankets or open skies."

"Expect?" Alec challenged as strongly as he could considering the circumstances.

"Hope, need. I need you to come for me, to pursue, in these familiar places as readily as at home. Bold, unpredictable, challenging, uninhibited, _free_. Be free with me Alec."

Alec stood with the intention of removing his jeans and in order to mount Magnus's cock, but barely got them open and over his butt before Magnus took hold of Alec with his mouth. "I'll always come for you," Alec gasped as he was enveloped by the warm, wet mouth of the man he loved. He felt every bump on Magnus's palate rub against his swollen, sensitive tip. The rough texture of tongue slicked with saliva rasped along Alec's shaft. The smooth lining of Magnus's cheeks tightened around him as Magnus sucked. Alec's hips were pulled forward at every suck. He rocked back slightly at every release. He clenched both hands into the naturally curling dark hair at the back of Magnus's head, letting his own tilt back to pant, gasp, and call his pleasure to the sky. Could the Angels see their warrior losing himself in intimate ecstacy with one his soul had been born to protect? Were they ashamed? Or did they rejoice that he'd found love? Did they not care either way, so long as he continued to kill demons and never mundanes? If the Angels disapproved then they had never understood love, and therefore humanity. It was the ability to love that separated Downworlders from demons.

Magnus slurped and moaned around Alec's cock until Alec grunted sharply, thrust forward and spurted into Magnus's mouth. Alec looked down to watch Magnus swallow and then kiss Alec's shrinking dick as it limped out from between his lips. Alec touched the starlit side of his lover's face.

"You set me free," Alec told him with gentle awe. Magnus looked up at him. "I could never be this free with anyone else." Fantasies about Jace had never ventured beyond chaste kissing. Alec certainly never imagined direct genital contact between them. He'd been trapped by his crush on Jace. There wasn't anything Alec couldn't imagine doing with Magnus, although his imagination was still relatively limited by inexperience. But everything he _could_ imagine, they did. Alec sat in Magnus's lap again and they kissed to the heartbeat of the earth, before Alec remembered it was the call of a lonely bird. "Aren't we supposed to be helping him find a mate?" he asked eventually.

"You'd help me on such a silly little adventure?" Magnus asked with delight brightening his eyes.

"If preserving life is silly, then I'm a proven fool," Alec quipped back.

"A very sexy, loveable, and romantic fool - like me!" Magnus replied. Alec laughed and they set off to preserve a species.

 

~~~

 

Jace was out trying to not be horny with Clary and it was too early to harass Simon, so Isabelle was forced to be alone with her cellphone and her mother, since her lecherous father remained in Idris. Isabelle read the message from Alec and grinned across the table at Maryse. "They spent their first full day in The Land of the Long White Cloud, which I'm guessing is New Zealand by Alec's mention of a link between traditional Maori tattoos and Nephilim Marks, plus his promise to send me a Tiki. Apparently he and Magnus helped some near-extinct species of bird to get it on."

Maryse gave Isabelle an inquisitive frown. Isabelle handed her the phone.

"Read for yourself," Iz told her mother. "They're _living_ while they're away together, not just fooling around. Magnus knows Alec hasn't dated before. He made his availability and interest known from the start and then let Alec do the pursuing. Mom," Isabelle took hold of Maryse's hand. "I told you Alec would be fine. Magnus loves him."

"I know. For now," Maryse replied with a tight smile then patted Izzy's hand with her free one. "I'm always going to be happy for Alec so long as _Alec_ is happy. Tell your brother I love him when you reply - _every_ time you reply."

Isabelle nodded, and for once complied precisely with her mother's wishes.

 

~~~

 

Every day brought at least one more photo. Isabelle received the same tame images as Jace of the travelling couple in front of international landmarks, Alec in his usual clothes ( _Really?_ thought Isabelle. _Still?_ ) and Magnus in traditional costume pertinent to the region, if not always to gender. Izzy also received brief summaries of their adventures and photos of random moments, such as the one with Alec posing beside a sleeping Magnus some time before dawn with the caption: **no glitter or hair gel - the scandal!!!** and even candid pictures of Alec from Magnus. Her absolute favorite showed a very rumpled Alec stretching and smiling tranquilly as he woke up, which Magnus had captioned: **proof that Nephilim are descended from Angels** that always made her smile, despite sadly wondering if anyone would ever consider her that beautiful first thing of a morning.

There was one image she must have been sent by mistake. While in Germany, Magnus somehow convinced Alec to attend a black-light party with him. Isabelle and Simon suspected Faerie drinks had come into play, because the four-shot photo sequence ("Like a retro photo booth!" Simon exclaimed with the level of excitement he normally reserved for nerd stuff) showed Alec just as shirtless and painted up as Magnus. His Shadowhunter runes were completely masked by ultraviolet-sensitive swirls and shapes in eye-gouging colors. Isabelle and Simon were laughing at the un-Alecness of it all when she noticed her favorite Downworlder frown.

"I don't think that violet-blue hand print smeared up Alec's abdomen in that last one is paint," Simon said with a wrinkled nose and gingerly handed Isabelle full possession of her phone.

"What do you mean?" Izzy asked as she held the screen closer to her face and tried to zoom the image. Simon knocked the phone from her hand and onto his bed.

"No, no, no," Simon sang as a panicky ditty. "You don't want to know. Once seen it cannot be UN-seen."

Izzy grinned. "Like Magnus in lederhosen?" she teased while reaching for her phone.

Simon leapt up onto the bed and put a foot over the phone as though about to squash a spider. "Worse," he said, as though about to swallow the word. "Much, much, ohhhhmygod SO much worseness."

Isabelle struck a Barbarella pose and held out her hand, palm up. "Do not make me whip you, Simon Lewis."

He preformed a rather fidgety one-legged dance. "But, this, no, you mustn't... Please don't whip me or let you look. Unless, you know, you particularly _want_ to have your brother's jizz face permanently burned into your retina." Simon squinted and braced himself, then opened one eye to check on Izzy when she hadn't responded. "Um, are you... are you brain dead?" he asked as he stepped off the bed and approached with extreme caution. Isabelle could not move. "Delete," she kind of croaked then suddenly regained the ability to move. Isabelle clutched Simon by the front of his moss-green T-shirt (which featured Dungeons and Dragons dice above the words _I'll tumble for you_ ) and shook him. "Delete it NOW." Then she ran off to warn Jace.

 

~~~

 

Magnus also had a special selection of photos for his and Alec's eyes only. Not all of them erotic, although the memories attached quite often were. He looked over the one he'd taken in India two evenings ago, of Alec asleep and partially draped in the sari Magnus had worn earlier that day. That afternoon had been the first time Alec played top to a bottom. His eyes had been wide the entire time. The stamina rune on his pubic bone, faded but still visible beneath a corner of sequinned silk in the photograph, had been Alec's idea. Overwhelmed by the sensation of being inside Magnus for a non-oral position, he'd doubted his endurance and wanted to be sure Magnus was satisfied before letting himself climax. Magnus was still overwhelmed by the way Alec thought.

"Have you formed a preference?" Magnus asked when Alec woke from his afterglow doze in need of a drink.

"You put in as much effort to _getting_ fucked as you do when doing the fucking," Alec said in awe, clearly doubting he could keep up with Magnus either way without magic or runes.

"You put in everything, my love." Magnus purred honest reassurances and nudged his nose against Alec's neck, much as Chairman Meow would nudge their wrists or palms when seeking a pat. "If my body hadn't chosen to lock into this peak of fitness and flexibility, I'd never cope with your energetic demands. You never just sit or lie there and take it, Alec. You _move_ , in the most delectably arousing and satisfying ways. I want to try everything everywhere with you. Not only sexual things: tea and scones at the Tower of London; herd long-haired cattle in the Scottish Highlands; swim with baiji dolphins in the Yangtze; ski across snow and water; observe penguins beneath the Aurora Australis and polar bears beneath Aurora Borealis; listen to howler monkeys in the rainforest! I want to experience the entire world with you so that wherever I go once you're gone ..." Magnus put his ear directly over Alec's heart beat. "If I should be the last living thing on this earth, grass and bacteria included, you will be missed the most. I could be surrounded by nothing but barren landscape in all directions and still have a memory of what we did on that exact spot when it was covered by a tree, or a building, or a creek bed. I want to live every moment that we can, together! These beautiful, meaningful places that I'm showing you..."

"It's all nothing compared to you," Alec interjected earnestly, beating Magnus to it, stealing his line and leaving him breathless. Alec took advantage of the open-mouthed silence by kissing Magnus softly and sedately. He folded his arms around Magnus and then they'd made love again. Alec had fallen asleep waiting for another drink of water, with body glitter still on his hips, marking the places Magnus held on while he straddled Alec's erection.

All of that contributed to making the sleeping-sari photograph of Alec, Magnus's favorite.

 

~~~

 

"Coffee table album," Magnus sang melodically as he closed a book bound in deep blue velvet and sent it back to his Brooklyn apartment with a snap of his fingers. "Bedroom album," he veritably purred while sliding the red leather counterpart over his lap to Alec. Alec wasn't sure what Magnus expected him to do with it until Magnus continued talking. "We'll have to find some way of storing the videos, preferably so we can project them onto our bedroom wall. Especially the one of me doing you doggy style in that four-poster bed at the Palace of Versaille. Your Marks so exquisitely visible in the daylight pouring through those tall windows." Magnus put an arm behind Alec's back and began rubbing his jaw and lips over the side of Alec's neck. "The audible 'thock' of the pockets of air formed and then popped through the repeated act of vigorous penetration. The sounds you made," Magnus gave a hormonal moan and wrapped himself completely around Alec, settling into Alec's lap. Alec was becoming equally aroused by this multisensory retelling. "Have I told you how addicted I am to the sexy noises you make when I fuck you?"

"You made them your message tone!" as Alec had discovered when Magnus received a reply text from Isabelle while they were in a crowded Greek restaurant. Remembered embarrassment caused Alec to change the subject. "You've been to most of these places before. Why are all your stories about them so impersonal?"

"I'm experiencing them now with you. This is how I prefer to remember them."

"But you won't, will you? Once I'm gone this won't matter anymore."

"I've never compiled photo albums in my life before now. Before you attempt to be smart but only succeed in being even more hurtful: I don't have any collections of woodcuts, either! You will _always_ matter. Obviously more than you realize," Magnus added under his breath and tetchily began to leave Alec's lap.

 _No I won't,_ Alec thought morbidly even as he prevented Magnus's evacuation with an apologetic kiss. _Every moment we're living together, I'm actually dying._ Would Magnus even bother to wait until Alec became part of the City of Bones before beginning to forget? Alec shuddered and grimaced deep in his soul but hid his dread from Magnus. These dark thoughts were of no benefit to anyone. He was a Shadowhunter and would be lucky to be alive in another ten years. Every living moment had to matter to himself, if no-one else.

"What shall we experience today?" Alec asked Magnus with enthusiasm, once again happy to be alive and together.

"Kabuki theatre in Kyoto, Japan!" Magnus replied with a flourish that produced a fan. With a quick flick open and snap shut of the fan, he was dressed as a Geisha.

Alec laughed and kissed a white-painted cheek with absolute delight. "I love you," Alec told him honestly. Magnus had been doing all this for Alec, filling Alec's shorter life with treasures of knowledge, experiences and joy, because he knew that Alec had no interest in _things_. All they wanted from each other was time together. Alec swore an oath to the Angel that he would savor the rest of this vacation and not taint it with fears of what may, or may not, happen decades from now.

Then he made love to his magnificent partner before they left for Kyoto.

 

~~~

 

They had to portal to the Vienna Opera House because Alec looked so dashing in his simple black suit that Magnus had taken it out to ravish him, and they'd missed the romantic mode of transport Magnus had planned to use. Absolutely worth it, Magnus thought as he whispered the gist of the story behind Nabucco during the opening overture.

"I'm familiar with Nabucco, Magnus, and I understand Italian as well as Latin," Alec pointed out with a smile. He looked out over the audience, orchestra pit, and stage. "These are magnificent seats. Everything is just..." His radiant smile turned to Magnus again. Magnus subtly kissed him. They held hands until the singers took the stage. Alec immediately became rapt in the performance. His fingers moved in subconscious imitation of the conductor's gestures. Magnus fell even more ludicrously in love with him.

If there was a way to make Alec immortal without removing or corrupting the very heart of what made him Alec, Magnus would offer him that option. Unfortunately for Magnus, such an option did not exist. _What would we look like twenty to forty years from now if we came back to these exact seats?_ Magnus silently asked Alec's profile. _Would you let me grow old with you?_

Magnus had the Book of the White. He could remove the shackles of immortality and live the rest of his limited life with Alexander Lightwood. The thought terrified as well as thrilled him. He'd never had a particular person in mind when he'd previously fantasized about finding a love worth becoming decrepit for. Alec could be the one. Perhaps _should_ be the one. Then Magnus would not have to suffer through eternity without him, or petrify from grief. Once this extended romantic interlude was over, Magnus would have to confide in Tessa and seek her advice. He'd never met an immortal heart as achingly full as hers. Tessa would understand why Alec made Magnus feel more human and yearn to feel entirely so.

Their phones vibrated partway into intermission, set to silent to avoid disturbing the performance if trouble occurred.

"I'm so sorry," Alec said, as though it was his fault Jonathon 'Sebastian' Morgenstern was a quasi-demonic douche.

"Never apologise for being needed, my love," Magnus told him and tenderly kissed Alec's forehead, "or for loving this world as much as I do." After all, that was why Magnus fell in love with Alec and wanted to cram so much into this time away together. Alec wanted to live more than any Shadowhunter, mundane, or Downworlder that Magnus had ever met. He wanted to live simply because he loved the diversity and strength of the world in which he lived. "Team Studly Awesome to the rescue yet again!" Magnus declared, and flipped his long white scarf around his neck with appropriate daring-do.

Alec grimaced with a forlorn sigh. "No. Just, no with the nicknames. Sometimes you can be so immature."

Magnus laughed, took his lover by the arm, and led him to the nearby permanent portal so they could return to the New York Institute and help force evil back into its box.


	3. Afraid That I'm Not Sure of a Love There is No Cure For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon author had them break up again here ... WHY TORMENT US SO? Now I have to re-inflict that agony. So, sorry, but at least we now know this torment won't last!

It wasn't Morgenstern's Monster that shattered their piece this time, but a vampire cow who knew how to read and manipulate soul-deep insecurities. Beneath the surface, Alec knew Magnus had had lovers before him. Most of the time Alec could skim over that because Magnus never mentioned that aspect of his past. _Any_ aspect of his past, Alec came to realise. When Camille Belcourt returned to New York seeking to regain authority of the Hotel Dumort vampires she refused to trade information about Morgenstern with anyone but Magnus, during which she coolly described Alec's place in Magnus Bane's list of pretty boy flings. Alec began to hate his reflection, an inferior copy of a Shadowhunter from his lover's past. He began to re-interpret every compliment Magnus paid as a hand-me-down, belonging to someone else a century ago.

_It isn't me he's in love with, sleeping beside, fucking, and keeping alive through digital images and videos. It's Will._

Men, women, Downworlders, mundanes - Magnus has bedded scores of them all over almost a thousand years. According to Camille, Magnus had even lied to Alec about his age! Shadowhunter was the only humanoid life form yet to score a notch in the extravagant bed post, until Alec had been gullible enough to offer himself. He felt sick. He felt worse after yelling these things at Magnus and then succumbing to tears when he saw his accusations stung Magnus just as painfully. It took several attempts for Magnus to assure Alec that this mysterious Will was far more like Jace in character -- only even more self-destructive, if Alec could believe it -- and that the minor physical resemblance between Alec and Will was in no way responsible for the initial spark of interest, that this relationship with Alec was deep and genuine. "Will would never have made me a coffee froth Chairman Meow, which is why I would never have put up with him or bought him a coffee machine," Magnus told Alec with a finger on Alec's chin and their tearful gazes firmly locked. "I do things for you that I would never do for anyone else, because you do things for me that others would simply never think to do. That's what love is, Alec."

Despite that, Alec couldn't help being jealous of all who had gone before. One day Alec would be numbered among them. Hundreds more would take his place and not one of those who followed would know he'd existed. Nothing more than a sequin lost beneath the sofa, less even, since that sequin stood a chance of being discovered and then sewn back on. He'd lie beside Magnus without sleeping, exhausted after another day of pretending he didn't resent the look of horror Magnus wore when Alec asked if he'd wanted the Book of the White so he could make Alec immortal. _For now, he only wants to love and live with me for now. A lifetime commitment for me is a mere seasonal fling for him. How old will I be to be too old in his eternally young eyes? He said before that he knew this wouldn't work? Why are we pretending?_

Alec eventually understood that he was pretending because it was better than not living with Magnus at all. Almost immediately after that, Camille privately suggested making Magnus mortal. Angel help him, there were moments -- brief seconds, not necessarily consecutive -- where Alec romanticised the idea. His logical nature swiftly replaced each frivolous fantasy with the fact that Magnus would ultimately wither and die as a result. Common sense also asked the serious questions that fancy tended to ignore. Would Magnus lose his powers? Wouldn't the as yet undisclosed process be excruciating? Surely it would require removing or altering the demon blood and other physicalities Magnus inherited from his non-human parent! There was no point if Magnus would no longer be Magnus, even if Camille hadn't asked Alec to murder the vampire Raphael in exchange, so Alec dismissed and declined her proposal. His rapidly age soul remained weighed down by the guilt he felt over being tempted at all. There were occasions when he felt the same elation and freedom in his lover's company but this corrosive worry over their relationship was killing him. Alec did his best to hide it, which led to making a Jace-level mistake. Instead of staying away after telling Camille that he refused to enter her contract, he continually sought her out even though he hated her. He'd become addicted to her stories of Magnus in London a century ago. This yearning for his lover's backstory proved his undoing when Magnus followed him to a meeting with Camille. The cruel cow had told Magnus of this particular interview and of Alec's interest in being mortal together, but far less politely and without mentioning Alec's adamant rejection of the idea. Now Magnus hated him for merely considering it, for not mentioning it, for maintaining the secret of these meetings in general. He hated Alec yet said he loved him, in Indonesian, the language of his mother and childhood: _Aku cinta kamu_. Alec would become angry about that later, because it had been Camille who told Alec where Magnus was born, not Magnus. At the moment he was too busy being devastated because Magnus hated Alec enough to foster the hope that their relationship could be saved, going so far as to accept Alec's shattered request for one last kiss, and then walking away.

Alec knew he had done eveything wrong, sought the wrong advice, confided in the wrong person. Camille's actions inflamed the prejudice against vampires that Alec had been working so hard to erase for Isabelle and Simon's sake. He was determined to do the world a favor and kill her, right now!

 

~~~

 

 _"I'll be out all day. Come and get your things out of the apartment and leave your key. I don't want to see you again, Alec. Or any of your friends. I'm tired of being their pet warlock."_ Magnus had been cut in half by the way his words echoed through the tunnel and tore through Alec. The sight of the drawers from his bedroom bureau placed on the kitchen counter and containing Alec's apartment key instead of his clothes and spare weapons turned those pieces of Magnus to mince.

Chairman Meow jumped up onto the counter and rubbed his flanks along all sides of the drawers before turning his upraised tail toward Magnus in reproach and leaping to the ground.

"I know," Magnus said dejectedly then returned the drawers to their rightful place in his bureau. Despite having to redistribute their original contents to make room for Alec, he couldn't bear to put anything in them, except Alec's key. He splayed both hands on the counter and stared blankly between them. "I know."

 

~~~

 

Logging: received only

 

> Done. I've also taken the photo albums since you'll either burn or shred them for the Chairman's litter tray. Your past means nothing to you so ours can only mean even less. Don't EXPECT me to pine for you like last time

 

* * *

 

 

> Gave coffee machine to Luke's pack so your future fucks won't feel compelled to ask why the magnificent High Warlock of Brooklyn has a turquoise and chrome kitchen appliance when he can magically steal a gourmet beverage whenever he wants

 

* * *

 

 

> I'm not the only one at fault here. If you'd spoken to me about your life before me I would have had no reason to ask Camille. Wish I'd been there to see Maureen kill her since making out with you stopped me being there to do it myself. You knew my history, all of it, romantic and otherwise yet EXPECTed me to blithely live with a stranger. I can't use that word anymore. You ruined it. You ruined everything

 

* * *

 

 

> Can't believe I was so gullible. You're as manipulative & selfish as Camille, only crueller. She was obviously a dead-hearted cow. You pretend to feel things

 

* * *

 

 

> I love you so much. I'm sorry I was so stupid and juvenile

 

* * *

 

 

> Can't even touch those albums. Hurts to know they exist. I'd make threats to ensure you deleted those videos if I didn't believe you've already done that. While you were walking away from me or perhaps before. I was so weak and pathetic to think you could actually love me, your Nephilim novelty toy. Keep away from me, whatever demonic or Downworlder activity happens

 

* * *

 

 

> Do you magic your mind like you did with Clary's to forget us so easily or do you just naturally not care to start with?

 

* * *

 

 

> Instead of ignoring your next pretty boy plaything when he does something wrong TALK TO HIM so he doesn't ask some wicked witch for advice and permanently screw things up

 

* * *

 

 

> Or her, since you're not fussy

 

* * *

 

 

> I miss your smile

 

* * *

 

missed call from Delighfully Sexy

 

* * *

 

 

> Did you ever mean it when you said you loved me? I did. Every time. Even when I was afraid you didn't

 

* * *

 

 

> Magnus please

 

* * *

 

missed call from Love of Your Life's BAMF sister

voicemail converted to text from Love of Your Life's BAMF sister: You broke my brother. I hate your face.

 

* * *

 

 

> Guess you found somebody else by now. Or even some THING. Should be glad you dumped me before I became an epic pervert

 

* * *

 

 

> Why am I the only one EXPECTed to compromise? I met all of your demands so you'd agree to get back together but then you did nothing to bring me closer to YOU, only to places and things. surface stuff that you know holds no meaning for me without you. WHO are you? Would ever have known who I'd been sharing my life with?

 

* * *

 

 

> Were you hoping I'd die in Alicante? Is that why you were so surprised to see me intercede for you? Was that holiday to ease your guilt after what I told you about Max? Right now I wish you'd died instead of him

 

* * *

 

 

> Was the purpose of our "relationship" to humiliate me or all Nephilim?

 

* * *

 

 

> Is this a game you play every few decades when you get bored? because I genuinely loved you. I bet Woolsey Scott and everyone else you've ignored once you're done with them loved you too

 

* * *

 

3 missed calls from Delightfully Sexy

 

* * *

 

 

> You're a neverending fountain of verbal defecation regarding trivial subjects but when there's something important about YOU that I need to know you respond with silence. Like now. You are such a child sometimes!

 

* * *

 

 

> Glad you don't find me a suitable candidate for immortality. Who'd want to put up with your secretive bollocks for eternity? Or even a mortal lifespan!

 

* * *

 

 

> You are seriously never going to respond? Not even a Fuck Off text? Blocking rune? Nothing?

 

* * *

 

 

> I swear by the Angel that I hate you and will hate you forever. I welcome death so I can be rid of you forever

 

* * *

 

 

> No I don't. I love you. I miss everything about you

 

* * *

 

 

> but not your secrets. Store those up your shiny tan backside then extricate for next idiot you claim to love

 

* * *

 

 

> Love is meant to fix things and hold people together. Not damage everything. So what we shared was obviously just freindship and sex. Which means I have no right to know anything about you beyond surface stuff. Since I can't have actually been in love with you I shan't bother again

 

* * *

 

 

> Please say something

 

* * *

 

 

> You arent even reading these are you. Auto delete engaged. Fuck off then.

 

* * *

 

missed call from Love of Your Life's BAMF sister

voicemail converted to text from Love of Your Life's BAMF sister: What did you say to get Alexo pissed off? If you weren't a warlock I'd replace all your hair products with Veet. Once I discover a suitable revenge I will get you so hard you will never be ungot!

 

* * *

 

 

> You said I would always matter. Wanted to believe that because I loved you but always knew it was bull. I still love you. That's why that particular lie will always keep hurting

 

* * *

 

13 missed calls from Catarina the Pious and Nosy

3 missed calls from Delightfully Sexy

voicemail converted to text from Delightfully Sexy: It's your birthday. I think about you all the time but especially today. I dough walnut you to think I forgot. Or donut care. Oh god I hope your not celebrating with someone else. Thunk.

 

* * *

 

 

> Are you celebrating with someone else? Are we so completely over you've already moved on? I haven't. I can't. You weren't always an arsehat. Mostly you're wonderful, except for when you're being magnificent

 

* * *

 

 

> You're not dead are you????? Please don't be dead!!!!

 

* * *

 

 

> Or with someone else

 

* * *

 

 

> It's traditional to say Happy Birthday but I dont want you to be happy without me. That's really why we broke up though isn't it. You're the love of my life and I want to be the final love of yours but you were already preparing to be happy without me

 

* * *

 

 

> I'm a selfish & immature (albeit sexy) turd burger with extra pickles and I'm sorry. Now say it back so we can get on with making up. I love you. Always and forever

 

* * *

 

missed call from Delightfully Sexy

 

* * *

 

 

> Magnus, just call me back. I need to know you're okay. Even if you're with someone else. I can't focus on anything else and you know better than anyone that right now this world that we and our kakapo friends live on NEEDS me to focus! Stop being so bloody selfish so I can also stop being so bloody selfish. You know what I mean. Shut up. But only after I know you're okay!

 

~~~

 

Apparently Chairman Meow's frequently exposed derriere and the erratically timed texts weren't considered adequate punishment for Magnus's sins against love. Delightfully Sexy's irritating friends and BAMF sister felt the need to rub salt and vinegar into the gaping wound with intrusive visits to the apartment where that love had been born and nurtured, where it had meant to thrive. So what if they had no possible way of knowing Magnus re-read the entire manifest of Alec's misery, abuse, and affection every time the phone went off, no matter who was attempting to make contact. They were, each and every one of them, interrupting crucial memory-jotting and self-pitying-lament time with their petty mewlings. Chairman Meow was just as guilty of that, by matter of fact! If the emotional attachment between Alec and Magnus had been one sided, then so too would be the grief. But it was not and had never been so. Magnus was the opposite face to Alec's shattered mirror and these children (and feline!) had no understanding of that!

Clary and her pet boy Sherman had tried mundane pleading tactics. Clary had wheedled, whereas the Daylighter had been tearing at his poorly styled hair and clawing his face with both hands as he exclaimed "For sanity's sake, Magnus! Please make it stop!"

Isabelle accused Magnus of using sex rituals to steal Alec's soul, "because there's nothing left. That hollow changeling thing wearing my brother's face, and skin, and hideously boring clothing did not exist before Alec met you. You summoned it, you send it back!" It wasn't Isabelle's sharply delivered demand or choice of full Shadowhunter kit, including whip and lethal high heels, that made Magnus step back and retreat into the safety of his loft. It was the agony behind the fury of her expression. Her description of Alec cut Magnus more effectively than any Seraph blade.

There were messages and attempted calls before, between, and after these visits. Each spontaneous eruption of emotion stabbed into every poor like fine, long needles imbued with star fire. And that was _before_ the birthday messages. By every Angel and demon, those birthday messages! With all that was going on, how could Alec's greatest fear be that Magnus was either dead or with someone else? Magnus loved Alec, missed him, and knew they'd both made mistakes to lead them to their current desolation. There was no point getting back together when they'd only make more, hurt each other more.

Then joy oh joy - Jace Herondale Wayland Morgenstern barged on in! What a wonderful birthday Magnus was having, being insulted and threatened by the Golden Twit! Some of Jace's insults were quite accurate, actually. But again: that wasn't the point! None of these adolescent strategies could possibly change anything! Nothing could make Magnus regret not responding to any of Alec's messages or answering his calls...

...except Jace receiving a call to arms before he'd finished picking Magnus apart. The thought of Alec in danger, wounded, dying, or already dead ... Magnus came close to hyperventilating. While he could be counted on for theatrical flamboyance, Magnus Bane was _not_ one for histrionics. And yet... "What is it?" Magnus asked sharply, stalking Jace to the door. "Is it Alec? Is he all right?"

"What do you care?" Jace asked like the crack of Isabelle's whip.

Magnus flinched from Jace's acidic ignorance. They truly had no idea, not one of them. He was angry at everything when he reached the New York Institute and saw Alec among the Nephilim gathering by Catarina's portal to Idris. How dare Alec's last message to Magnus be a plea for word that he was healthy, safe, and not mindlessly shagging somebody! Where was obligatory "I'm off to fight and maybe die a gruesome death protecting every sorry arse on this planet, including yours" follow up? How was Magnus meant to know when to worry or prepare for the absolute certainty that he would never see this extraordinary young man EVER AGAIN?

Alec had accused Magnus of considering him a modern, inferior copy of Will Herondale, but he was oh so _stupidly_ wrong. Jace was the next generation Will Herondale, despite their contrasting looks. Alec was closest to everything Magnus had ever hoped for in a partner, male or female, and not just aesthetically.

"You wanted to talk, so talk," Magnus demanded gruffly after pulling Alec aside and away from the crowd. Somewhere in his brain one cartoon Magnus was no doubt pummelling the cartoon forehead of another. This was _not_ how Magnus wanted this reunion to go. Surely after hundreds of years a warlock should instinctively _not_ make such incredible gaffs? What was the point of immortality otherwise? It didn't help that Alec was speechless, and for the first time in their acquaintance, _afraid_ of Magnus. The single remaining calcified layer protecting Magnus's heart flaked off. His heart beat throbbed like the boom of a kakapo for the first time since ... since Magnus had learned he was demon's get. It would be safest for Magnus and Alec if Magnus scared Alec away. Torn between terrifying the love out of Alec and keeping him close to protect him, Magnus did a a little of each, leaving them both confused, agitated, and lacking in hope before Alec was called to enter the portal.

Magnus fervently wished he'd become a fully calcified statue of himself before meeting Alec. He'd been trying to re-engage that process from the moment he saw the empty drawers and apartment key on the kitchen counter. Surprisingly, of all the unwelcome visitors over the intervening weeks, Jace was the one to pick up on it. Magnus walked away from the portal built to transport all the local Shadowhunters to their deaths, and wondered how many decades would pass before this particular agony began to fade.

 

~~~

 

Hell referred to a place and a situation. Alec inhabited both and his parabatai didn't bloody notice. Alec wasn't even bothering to hide it. Perhaps if he had long red hair, boobs and a vagina, Jace would notice. The vagina alone would probably suffice. Simon was almost as revolting over Izzy. Did all hetero boys think only with their dicks??? Why hadn't Alec thought to bring more wine?

Being overwhelmingly numb when he wasn't angry somehow sharpened his instincts and dulled his fear. He couldn't let such obviously petty troubles destroy him. Not while his brother and sister were finally getting to boink their respective former-mundanes, that would be selfish!

He couldn't make the horrors stop if he was dead, so he soldiered on through Hell because that was his purpose.

Then he found Magnus chained to a dungeon cell floor and wasting away. Alec stopped being a soldier and reverted solely to the jilted lover still desperately in love with the man who rejected him. His heart was as captured by Magnus as the hostages had been captured by Max's murderer. Alec landed on his knees in front of Magnus and froze in indecisive despair. _What do I do? Do I say anything or just set him free and run out to find the others?_

"Oh my Alec," Magnus said in a voice deep and rich as his skin tone, "You've been so sad, I had no idea."

NO IDEA?!? So he hadn't opened Alec's messages or listened at all to his friends? Had in fact ignored Alec and everything to do with him, already begun to erase him once he'd turned his back on Alec in the tunnel...Magnus reached for Alec, held him on the prison floor, kissed him. Alec melted through the warmth and strength of his touch, then reformed and solidified as a Shadowhunter. Regardless of which dimension Alec was in, it would always be his responsibility to protect the world on he stood from demons. He could not allow himself to hope that _anyone_ was safe until this ended. He could not hope that Magnus would invite him back into their, _the_ , apartment to share the For Now of his immortal life. Alec readily convinced himself that Magnus's affectionate reaction stemmed from relief at being rescued and delirium caused by whatever had been stealing his power and physical strength. It had nothing to do with Alec specifically. If Magnus cared he wouldn't be the one continually walking away with Alec always running to keep up and hanging on. Alec would defend Magnus from Sebastian and every other threat to the end, but from now on it was up to Magnus to follow. There was no time to discuss it. There was no breath to spare as they ran.

 

~~~

 

Getting Alec out of Edom was the priority. Why, after everything, did he refuse to let Magnus do this for him then insist on staying so Magnus woudn't die alone if Magnus _did_ choose to surrender his mortality? As Raphael Santiago said when he saw Magnus on a date with Alec at Taki's: Nope, nope, nope, and also no.

With horror, Magnus saw that Alec understood what staying in Edom entailed. Magnus would be dust. Alec would survive for as long as Asmodeus willed it. The involuntary screams from a young Nephilim willingly stripped of his Marks in order to live an ordinary life with a mundane would become whispers in comparison to the tortures Alec would face at the will of Magnus's demon father. Robert Lightwood may be a bigoted twit and one-time friend of Valentine Morgenstern, but Asmodeus was one of the nine kings of Hell, ruler of Edom and Lucifer's best friend. Why did Alec refuse to listen to reason? Had the break up broken him so badly he'd begun to become Jace?

Before they could finish arguing it out, that fandom freaky vampire kid strolled right on up to Magnus's daddy not-so-dearest and said "Make me mundane again!" or something like that in tones of Moses demanding that his foster-brother Pharoah let his people go. Then, BAM, the Downworlders and Nephilim were back in Alicante, and Simon was back in Mundania with his mother, who had conveniently forgotten that her Jewish son had only recently been a blood-devouring undead bearing the Mark of Cain. Which all would have been dandy, had the vision of bone towers and bloody streets not remained to taunt Magnus as he failed to enjoy the Spartan hospitality of the Clave's quarantine, separated from Alec before they could redefine their relationship.

Magnus held Shadowhunter nonsense accountable for every horrid and terrible thing that had occurred since Jocelyn Fairchild first brought Clary to his door for a memory-molestation. Amendment: for every poopy thing that happened since that tool Jonathon Morgenstern summoned the Angel Who Gives a Rat's. That wasn't his name, but it _should_ be. Apathetic bastard.

Tempting as it was to attempt ignoring Alec again, Magnus decided to fight for the privilege of being loved by him and living happily as however long they had together. In one respect, possibly more, Alec had been more mature than Magnus: he'd continually analysed, prioritised, and laid plans to salvage and strengthen their relationship. Upon being set free from the quarantine, Magnus re-read all of Alec's phone messages and gathered up his notebooks. This was definitely the path worth travelling.

~~~


	4. Boy, You Are WAY Too Happy to be Singing the Blues!

Although temporarily in charge of the New York Institute, Alec spent as much time as possible with Magnus in the apartment. Neither raised the topic of Alec moving back in as they sat on a plum and navy striped sofa in the living room currently set up in sombre, masculine tones. The lemon and lime enamel on Magnus's finger and toe nails provided the only spots of extreme color as they discussed breaking up twice in their months together while addressing some of Magnus's earlier concerns. They sat with their sides and thighs touching but kept their hands to themselves, though their fingers were by no means still. Alec alternately twisted his fingers together or plucked pills off his typically nondescript sweater. Magnus clicked the citrus nails of thumb and forefinger together or scrunched then de-scrunched the aubergine cravat that had originally been around his neck and now sat in his lap. Alec had chosen this simple yet elegant cravat after steering Magnus away from one with a frangipani motif during their holiday. Magnus had been attempting to update Alec's wardrobe, as per Izzy's demand, but Alec insisted he preferred everything they found on Magnus rather than himself. He'd been willing to let Magnus buy him some rather fun yet still practical underwear to go under his usual jeans, sweaters, and Shadowhunter gear, however. Plus some other items for when they were alone... On the whole, Magnus had learned to accept that Alec preferred to wear simple clothes despite admiring exceptional taste in others.

"Jace and Iz have always been extraordinary," Alec told Magnus. "Soon after discovering I loved Jace as more than a parabatai, I learned that extraordinary people are only ever attracted to each other. I became comfortable with being invisible. Then we met," Alec softly nudged their feet together. "You saw me, even though you're the most extraordinary anyone and I'm entirely unremarkable. I hadn't completely let go of my love for Jace because I believed from the start that you thought "You'll do for now," not "You're the one for me!" Then you stopped returning my calls, even though I persisted. I felt like I'd become a ghost. Extraordinary people all around me, more of them now thanks to the invasion of Clary and Simon. I'm more mundane than the boy _born_ a Mundane! I'd given up comparing myself to Jace and everyone around me until I met you. I knew why I was with you but couldn't understand why you were with me, the dandelion among orchids. Do _not_ make that into a gay pun." Alec didn't give Magnus time to comment. "You just ... _stopped_ , without explanation. I'd begun steadily changing my life in order to spend more of it with you, and in return you began ignoring me..."

" _Tried_ to ignore you..." as an act of self-preservation, Magnus wished to declare!

Alec stopped him with a scowl. "You deliberately reduced me to nothing which made a mockery of every intimacy we'd shared! To later learn there'd been hundreds of lovers before me, and have you walk away from me so easily again... Your words said we were remarkable together, but Camille's words and your actions insisted I was insignificant. It's like a never-ending series of wasp stings to the heart."

Magnus refused to let those comments pass without rebuttal. "Calm yourself down Mr Pot before you start calling this kettle black! You inflicted those same wasp stings, reduced me to nothing, and made a mockery of every intimacy we shared by publicly shunning my affection, denying outright and in front of me to your shallow friends that weren't dating, and for considering making me mortal to be some kind of relationship fix!"

They reflexively allowed physical space between them in order to seethe, process, and calm down. Chairman Meow deliberately stalked across Alec's lap and draped across the agonized couple's adjacent thighs. Their fingers gradually came into contact as they both stroked the tabby's fur. Magnus hooked his index finger with Alec's. He did not begin to relax until Alec put his head on Magnus's shoulder.

"With your relationship experience," Alex asked quietly and without accusation, "how did you not know how to fix this?"

"I've never had a relationship like this one, Alec. Complete secrecy or complete openness are both familiar scenarios, not that half and half you put me through at the beginning."

"You seem to know everything about everything else, so I assumed you'd _know_ ," Alec confessed without whining.

Magnus looked at Alec's mildly frowning face. Alec deliberately kept his eyes and hand on Chairman Meow, who happily bridged their laps. "Not everyone has been as genuine within my relationships as you," Magnus said softly. "That _you_ were the one publicly denying our coupledom and later discussing me behind my back with Camille, least genuine of all my lovers..."

Alec looked up, but not in defensive anger or spite as expected from someone his age. His smile made Magnus glad to be alive, immortal, and _here_.

"See?" Alec told him. "Speaking honestly about your past provides opportunities for me to respond as an adult, rather than a jealous adolescent." Then he did a magnificent thing and kissed Magnus on the mouth. It wasn't bold, tender, or seductive but spontaneous, casual and natural. "Teach me to say "I love you" in Indonesian," Alec asked as he sat closer to Magnus and put his head more comfortably against Magnus's shoulder. Magnus put an arm around Alec and they repeated the phrase until Alec could pronounce it correctly. Magnus could think of only one way to express his delight, and handed Alec back his key to the apartment. Alec accepted it with equal lack of words.

They sat silently petting Chairman Meow until the tabby grew bored and stalked across Magnus to the arm of the sofa and leaped to the floor.

Alec held the key on his palm and looked at it for a moment. "Is this permission to live here again as we were before, or merely to drop in at random like initially?" he asked.

"It means you don't need permission or a reason to be here," Magnus said as he caressed Alec's thigh.

"I really have missed Chairman Meow," Alec teased while turning his body toward Magnus. They fit themselves together as they kissed. Taking their intimacies slowly meant they were merely shirtless and love-bitten when Alec had to return to the Institute. It was the first time they'd gotten this far since their return from Edom, and far more frustrating than reaching this point when Alec had been seventeen and still under curfew. Magnus turned his displeasure aside. Alec was currently responsible for every Shadowhunter and mundane within the Institute's boundaries. The murder of his younger brother Max still haunted him, though Alec no longer wallowed in guilt over saving Magnus's life around the same time Maxwell was robbed of his. Magnus felt the need to be worth it.

"Got your key?" Magnus asked once Alec's torso and arms were disappointingly covered again. Alec raised the key with a smile that told Magnus he and his gesture were valued by this young man that he loved. Magnus followed Alec to kiss him goodbye at the door because they were both ridiculously romantic, though Alec had once been able to hide his romanticism far too convincingly. After closing and locking the door behind Alec, Magnus read through the Book of the White and tried calculating how many years he'd need to decide whether Alec Lightwood was worth the inconvenience of aging. Then he did a vivid spot of redecorating!

 

~~~

 

The joyous relief Alec expected to feel if events prompted Magnus to reconcile sparked into life when Alec first used his apartment key again. He didn't know why it hit now instead of when Magnus handed him the first notebook of handwritten personal histories and asked to get back together. Then understood when he entered the living room with its pastel walls and tropical fruit themed furnishings. Mango sofa, kiwi-fruit ottoman, pineapple ring rug, whole and halved avocados parading in diagonal lines down lemon-yellow curtains, the contrast to the previously tame decor made Alec want to crow and dance like Peter Pan. This arrangement was more representative of _his_ Magnus. Alec settled for grinning like a loony as he carried the coffee machine he'd bought to replace the one he'd vengefully given away, set it up on its rightful place on the kitchen counter, and got it going. Recent conversations in these rooms proved they were back on track and navigating this section of their journey together. Magnus hadn't moved the mugs or given any away during Alec's absence, which caused as much hurt as elation. Making coffee was a significantly 'at home' activity. The aroma jingled at Alec's nerves.

Magnus swung by one hand around the corner from the bedrooms. Wide eyes, body language, and the shape of his mouth indicated pure hope and excitement. "Does this mean...?"

"That we have time for coffee?" Alec asked with feigned nonchalance in reply. "Yes it does," he said while carefully sliding the blue Better Than Gandalf mug across the counter top to eagerly waiting hands. "I can't stay overnight. Soon, I hope." His hands had begun to shake before he managed to sip from his own mug. He had to put it down. With a frown of concern, Magnus lowered his too. "There's something I need to ask you first, about Camille and what happened in Edom. Something that won't be covered in your notebooks..." Alec admitted.

"We were unconscious crossing into Edom. That demon you and your rescue team encountered..."

"No. Not... Mortality, Magnus. Would Camille's method of making a warlock mortal have had the same effect as your father's?"

"You didn't ask for details or consequences? Alexander!" Magnus turned angrily, albeit elegantly, away from Alec in disgust.

"I was more interested in how you'd lived your life than how to shorten it!"

Magnus meekly turned back and gently pushed both hands against the counter top. "Camille failed to mention that."

"Wish she'd failed to mention ways you fucked her," Alec grunted. He cringed against memories of her smugly cruel expressions.

"Oh Alec," Magnus exclaimed softly and touched the back of Alec's twitching hand. It seemed he finally understood what insults Alec had repeatedly endured in order to learn more about him.

"I know Camille said particular things just to provoke me, and I'm never repeating any of them. At least then I can hope she was exaggerating. Although from personal experience that is highly unlikely. This isn't what I came here to say." Alec turned the mug in his hands without looking at it. "I'm wondering if she hoped to manipulate my ignorance into killing you. Whether or not that was her intention, had Simon not offered his Daylighter immortality and Asmodeus accepted it in place of yours, would you have felt the disintegration? Would every cell die at once, or over time? What excruciating torment would you have gone through just to get the rest of us out of Edom?" Alec didn't bother hiding his dread as he asked. Magnus took firm hold of Alec's wrists and looked him in the eye.

"I don't know. I don't know whether Camille intended to use you to murder me, or to make me mortal without any repercussions to herself, or simply wanted to break us up for her own amusement. I can't know for sure how long I would have suffered had Simon's offer been deemed an unacceptable substitution. I also don't know why you felt the need to ask these things before feeling comfortable enough to stay," Magnus added irritably.

"Because I think about it all the time. I thought nothing could be worse than what happened to Max. That you could believe I'd deliberately inflict greater suffering on you just so I'd be the last lover you'd have..."

"My darling Alec," Magnus whispered hoarsely.

"There have been moments where I've thought Max was only nine and you'll live to be beyond nine hundred, how is that fair? Finding you like that in Edom taught me that things _can_ kill you, they just haven't yet. I naively thought immortal meant cannot be killed, rather than immune to aging. I am indirectly responsible for my brother's death. Camille aimed to make me responsible for yours. I've placed the fates of my loved ones into hands I should never have trusted!"

"We've all done that. Not always with such drastic consequences, but sometimes with worse. There is nothing glib about you Alexander."

"Glib? Sounds like the slow leak from a tap that isn't forceful enough to drip. Or a demon snot-bubble." Their coffee had gone cold but Alec gulped his anyway with Magnus grinning at him. "Sure you want moody me living here again? I don't know how to be the way we were before the Camille worm crawled into my brain."

"I want to fill my life with you, now even more than then. We weren't facing things properly before, both afraid of 'us' being imperfect. Maturity doesn't mean we have to give up all the fun things."

"Have I ever been fun though?"

Magnus smiled and reached across the counter to caress Alec's face. "I enjoy your company, Alec. Points have never been deducted for your lack of flamboyance. Having lived with me for centuries, I am aware that extravagance can become tiresome."

Alec pivoted his gaze to the living room and back. "How long does that usually take?" he asked.

"For some people, decades. Others, moments," Magnus replied with a negligent shrug. Alec smiled and bent across the the counter to kiss him, propping himself with both hands before climbing up onto his knees to embrace Magnus properly. "I thought we didn't have time," Magnus said seductively.

"We don't. Next time I come home I'll make sure we do."

 

~~~

 

Magnus loved the way Alec preferred to sit or lay beside him when reading through the darker bits of the handwritten history. Alec had nicknamed the set of notebooks The Bane Chronicles. Magnus would have preferred he refer to them as Episodes From the Ridiculous Life of the Even More Ridiculously Sexy Love of Alexander Lightwood's Life, but Alec just stared flatly or walked away whenever Magnus suggested this alternative title. "It's MY history," Magnus protested the third time Alec gave him the blank face. "I could call it Powdered Grapefruit on a Lavender Sprig and you should have to honor that title!" Magnus heard Alec's chortle once he'd left the room with the notebook about the events in Peru dangling between his fingers. Magnus could tell where Alec was up to in any segment by the snorts of stifled laughter, sudden reach for and squeeze of Magnus's hand, or hitch of breath. Sometimes Alec would close the book and wait until he could be alone to hide his reactions, particularly those prompted by jealousy. At others, he'd press his face into the side curve of Magnus's neck and cling to him, deeply inhaling his scent and savoring the warmth of his skin, "to remind me you're solid, real, alive, and here with me."

"Do we have time for me to provide further proof?" Magnus asked, pushing upward with his pelvis. He felt Alec's hand slide down between them to measure his hardness.

"Feels like we won't need long, so definitely."

"Sixty-nine with me?" Magnus suggested as Alec put that hand inside Magnus's silk boxers to stroke him.

"Mhmm," Alec replied and began kissing down the side of Magnus's neck. Magnus shivered and began removing Alec's clothes by hand. "Do that any slower, Bane, and I'll suspect you don't want me to do this after all..."

Magnus snapped his fingers and they were both immediately naked. Alec laughed in approval as they got onto their sides and into position. Touching, sucking, and bucking frantically, so they could come quickly - like a pair of closeted college boys afraid of getting caught in the storage shed after practice, according to a two dollar porn novel Magnus read recently. Only hotter, because nothing written could ever equal what Magnus Bane did with Alec Lightwood for hotness.

Alec leaned his head on Magnus's hip once they were done so he could look at his face. "I want to live with you again as soon as Mom comes back to take charge of the Institute. I mean As Soon As. Mom walks in and puts down her bags, I pack mine and 'choof'," Alec scuffed his palms together in opposite directions. "Is that okay with you? It's to be with you." His fingertips tickled nonsense patterns on Magnus's abdomen to support his verbal assurances. "Getting away from everyone else is purely a bonus," he promised with a grin. By every Angel in Heaven and those that were fallen, this young man was perfect for Magnus!

" _The moment_ Maryse's bags hit the floor," Magnus insisted without revealing the true intensity of his smile. "I'll have coffee waiting."

 

~~~

 

Not even the Arabian Nights harem theme Magnus had going on in their bedroom, complete with Frankincense, could distract Alec from reading about Magnus. He finished and closed the most recent segment of Powdered Grapefruit, took the Patricia Cornwell mystery novel from his lover's hands and climbed onto Magnus's lap. Alec crossed his legs behind Magnus's lower back and clasped his hands behind Magnus's neck. Magnus returned the embrace without breaking Alec's deliberate silence.

"How could you have loved that horrendous bitch without being or becoming a complete asshole?" Alec asked eventually, referring to Camille Belcourt. "Most of these people you've had trouble getting over are in someway awful. I mean seriously, scarily awful."

"I can be awful too," Magnus replied. "I've never been precisely as you know me _until_ you knew me. Knowing you revealed how horrible the nasty ones truly were. This me would never have loved those people in that way, perhaps not even at all. I never want to be those versions of me again, or even the me I was when we were first together. This is the Magnus that deserves a loving lap full of Alec Lightwood.

"Someday soon I'm going to get you to repeat that last bit while I'm riding your face. For now, though..." Alec saw his lover's jaw slacken. "Magnus! Stop fantasizing while I'm trying to talk to you!"

"Talk quick then, because that's one hell of a persistent image you presented me with, my love!"

Alec briefly nudged his chin against Magnus's forehead to get him to be serious. "It was brave of you to share a lot of these things with me."

Magnus rubbed Alec's back in random directions. "If I'd known you'd react like _this_ I would have begun telling you during our first date."

"This isn't leading to sex," Alec scolded him gruffly. He'd already had to deal with Izzy and Jace making lewd comments about his hasty escape once Mom returned. Not that he and Magnus hadn't resolved some hefty sexual tensions that night...but that wasn't all they ever did. They weren't Jace and Clary!

"This moment is far more intimate than sex," said Magnus. The way he said it, and meant it, made it more so. "I didn't realize your demands for anecdotes about my past were declarations of love, rather than statements of ownership or control. If I'd understood what you'd been searching for and how deeply you loved me, I would never have walked away from you in that tunnel."

"You wouldn't?" Alec asked after catching a stolen breath. His arms became suddenly heavy around Magnus's neck. Alec wanted to curl flush against him and share his heart beat.

"You were looking for _me_ ," Magnus said in a hushed voice as he drew Alec close to his chest and snuggled against him. "You probably would have gone to similar lengths to meet with Ragnor Fell and Woolsey Scott if they were both alive. Jem Carstairs too, if he wasn't the Silent Brother Zachariah at the time. You wouldn't have done that if I'd let you see."

"Why didn't you? Why wait til you'd decided to end it with me?" Alec asked. He reflexively held Magnus tighter to quash the memory of that vacancy.

"On your eighteenth birthday I asked what you wanted, and what you wanted most was for me to like what I see when I looked at you. I wanted you to like what you had in front of you, without comparing it to my past."

Alec loosened his grip on Magnus and flopped onto his back on his side of their bed. "My entry in these notebooks is going to be: _My first Shadowhunter was a whiny and clingy brat with an inferiority complex_."

Magnus scooched onto his back then rolled onto his side and repeatedly stroked Alec's bare shoulder while steadfastly looking him in the eye. "Alexander Gideon Lightwood became _my_ Shadowhunter because unlike the majority of Nephilim I've met he didn't fight for notoriety, to annihilate some inner pain, or to satisfy blood lust, but for love. Alec fought to protect his siblings and their dorky friends, for this world we live in, and for me. He possessed a unique combination of courage and caution, humility and leadership, solemnity, passion, and humor. I'd already been alive for centuries and believed myself in love several times, but Alec is the first true love of my life and his absence will always be felt most keenly." Magnus looked down at Alec's chin, or shoulder, or perhaps nothing at all. His fingers drummed a thoughtful staccato. "I hope... I hope Alec outlives me because mortality will be kinder to his grief than immortality will be to mine." He lifted his gold-green eyes to Alec's again. "Alec..."

Alec saw the raw agony behind Magnus's decison to walk and stay away. It had been easier to do, and to grieve what they'd shared when Alec's mistakes could be blamed for destroying their relationship in its youth. Magnus could feed that anger as long as they were apart without having to focus on what worked -- and worked wonderfully -- between them. Alec caressed Magnus's sombre face. His handsome Indonesian features were everything Alec hoped to see before sleeping and wake up to for the rest of his life, whether that be measured in hours or decades. "Love is a deceptively selfish emotion. I don't want you to hurt because of me, but can't be sorry that we're together again. I can't regret while I have you within reach..."

Magnus softly kissed Alec on the forehead then his mouth. "I'll never push you away or turn my back on you again. No more wasting whatever time we have left."

"Whatever dimension you end up in, I will hunt you down and I will _stay_ there with you if we can't bring us back."

Magnus snuggled into Alec, silently breathing him in the way Alec sometimes wallowed in the combined scents of sandalwood and Magnus. Alec traced the fingertips of one hand down Magnus's spine to produce an intimate shiver and sigh and then kissed him.

"Is this leading to sex?" Magnus asked in a murmur. Alec was thrilled to hear him so nervously hesitant, reassured that they could be on an even footing despite the disparity of experience, and that Alec could sometimes hold the upper hand.

"Most definitely," Alec drawled.

Magnus grinned. Alec laughed as Magnus grabbed Alec's hips and rolled back so Alec fell on top of him. Magnus hummed in approval as Alec sat up to straddle him, hands and eyes eagerly exploring Alec's face, neck, and bare arms and torso as Alec subtly rocked to get Magnus hard. "Nephilim, Nephilim, let me in. Or I'll huff and I'll puff, and I'll _blo-o-o-w_ all over our lovely matching silk boxers. Please assure me you haven't reverted to wearing briefs under yours!"

Alec guided Magnus's left hand up his right thigh so Magnus could feel the absence of briefs for himself. The tickle and tug of fingers against Alec's balls made his dick push up and out against the fabric of his boxers. Magnus used his free hand to reach in through the front and bring Alec's erection out, circling his fingertips and over the tip then rubbing his thumb through the clear precum as it emerged. He took the other hand from Alec's boxers and helped Alec strip them both without releasing Alec's cock. "On your back, my love, and spread those sexy legs," Magnus said huskily. "I'm going to open and tease you with my tip before letting you ride me. Love the sounds and faces you make getting knob-fucked, so don't you dare try to stifle them like in Venice!"

"We weren't the only gondola on that stretch of canal that night," Alec pointed out while applying lube to Magnus.

"There's only one gondola allowed to travel your canal..."

"Which will closed to all traffic for the next week if you make another remark like that!"

Magnus smiled at Alec with a tauntingly raised eyebrow and then nudged against him repeatedly before making the breach. Alec groaned and let his bent legs fall to the side. Magnus made a grunt of victory. "As though you'd go without _this_ for a week just to spite my penchant for puns!"

"Might let you take me to that Swedish sex shop so I can punish you without sacrificing my own pleasure ... ahh you said you weren't going full thrUHhuh, hih, hooh, haah, yeah, mm yeah."

Magnus gave a devious chuckle then bent down to concentrate. He quietly exclaimed over the movement of Alec's ring as it closed, rolled, and stretched over the fattened tip entering and fully exiting him over, and over again. The tickle of warm breath added to the thrill of sensation. Alec reached back to hook both arms under their pillows and raised his knees. Magnus growled and grazed his teeth against Alec's thigh. "No you don't. You can't provoke me into pounding you full tilt just yet!"

Alec rolled his hips upward during the next insertion to bring Magnus just a little deeper. Magnus stumbled with a moan then reflexively pulled back and pushed further in again. Alec smirked archly at Magnus's reaction.

"Curse you for feeling so good and for enjoying the ways I make love to you so I want to keep doing them," Magnus said then hooked his elbows under Alec's knees and leaned completely forward so his forehead was on the pillow beside Alec and Alec was almost folded in half. "Since this is what you want, I'd better give it to you." Magnus reached up to clutch the edge of the bedhead as he thrust. Alec cried out sharply then demanded he do it again. Magnus was already on the back swing. Their bodies thudded rather than slapped at every impact. Magnus kept his lantern eyes on Alec's face so he knew just when to swivel instead of thrust to make Alec wriggle and beg for a straightforward fucking. Alec didn't mind a bit of kinky play but all he really need to get off was the rigid cock of Magnus Bane thrusting deep inside of him and the sounds they produced together. Magnus didn't find that boring, claiming that all he needed was Alec happily horny for him to make any session enjoyable. _I come for_ you _, Alec, not what position we're in or for any potential spectators. Although having a third or eleventh party witness how I excited I get you certainly boosts my sensitive ego_.

Alec came at the memory of Magnus rewatching their intimate videos and muttering his threat/desire to publicly release them once Alec was either gone or a dottering old fart and too forgetful to care: _Then everyone will know how lucky I was and why I'm so miserable without you_. Magnus came before Alec's climax had finished, so their finales overlapped. "Oh my Alec," he said between afterglow kisses. "Please live to be at least ninety three."

 

~~~

 

"There must be some way we can rescue Mark Blackthorn from the Wild Hunt and return him to his family," Alec fervently told Magnus as he entered their kitchen wearing only a towel and picked up the mug of freshly brewed coffee Magnus had left for him on the counter. He smiled briefly at the cupid motif Magnus had chosen for Alec's mug since Alec magnanimously decided Magnus could call him Eros as a pet name from the list Magnus had composed. Magnus could see that Alec wouldn't let that bout of cuteness derail his current train of thought. "What's the use of all our combined talents and training, otherwise?" he demanded to know as he brought his coffee through to their living room and frowned at the sight of Magnus nestled in one of the egg-shaped basket chairs suspended from the ceiling. Magnus liked the way they turned freely, allowing him to face anywhere in the room without changing his posture. He'd been feeling nostalgic for the 1960s and 70s lately, and had the main room decked out accordingly. Seven tiny peace symbols dangled from the silver filigree cuff hugging his ear. He'd given the second half of the set to a young man at Stonewall who had since become a woman. In the far corner, The Kinks sang about wanting to live like an Ape Man as the original vinyl LP turned on a record player that could be flipped so its base formed the top of the laminated sideboard when not in use. The 60s and 70s were all about movement, Magnus thought reflectively. Stagnation returned with the 80s...

"Thanks by the way," Alec added and raised his cupid mug in mini-salute before taking a hearty gulp and looking for somewhere secure to sit. "What happened to the wicker Morticia Addams one from yesterday? I liked that one."

Magnus pointed accusingly at their cat. Chairman Meow continued to lie stiffly on a corduroy beanbag with all four legs perpendicular to his body. The Chairman was not as impressed as Magnus by Alec's determination to retrieve Mark Blackthorn, product of a Shadowhunter's illegal marriage to a Faerie. One of two products, since Mark had a sister Helen as well as their multitude of Clave-endorsed half-siblings. Chairman Meow did not know Alec's perceptions of all Downworlders had been shaken like a snowglobe during the past year, or that Magnus was incredibly pleased with the way those sparkles were settling. The Clave's treatment of the two eldest Blackthorn children infuriated Magnus, but angry mutterings among the majority of Downworlders had him terrified for Alec. Nephilim were the newest of the partially human races. They'd pretty much bullied their way into existence when Jonathon Shadowhunter summoned an Angel, and steadfastly bullied everyone else, since! Increasingly loud pockets of older races wanted the Nephilim wiped out. Few recalled the demonic plague that prompted the Angel to provide the Mortal Instruments, Gray Book of runes, and portion of his blood in order to establish the Shadowhunter defense system. A titanic superiority complex was without doubt the major character flaw among Nephilim. But then, members of the Heavenly Host weren't known for their humility, either.

Alec resignedly clambered into the other basket and eventually managed to get the bobbing and slowly turning chair to do his bidding and remain still. He frowned when Magnus didn't laugh at his struggles. "Magnus?" he prompted gently.

Magnus made no attempt to hide his troubled thoughts from Alec. "The end has begun. It might take decades or centuries before the Faerie declare outright war, but they will, and based on the murmurs I hear, Nephilim won't be their only targets. Mundanes ... to put it bluntly, my love, the Faerie will allow the vampires and werewolves to hunt mundanes into extinction, and then let the Infected feed on each other and themselves until only Faerie and warlocks remain. Just as they believe they have achieved ultimate victory, this part is only a suspicion mind you, the demons will come and destroy all survivors. That's what my vision means, Alec. I feel it," Magnus turned the side of his hand aganist his solar plexus. "I can't relax. Normally I can just cross my legs in one of these, close my eyes, and gently spin the stress away. Even the sight of you in a towel is causing me distress, because it normally fills my mind with chaotically saucy thoughts but right now I'm hoping none of what I've described comes to pass in your lifetime. You belong in a world teeming with life and beauty, not horror and decay."

"So do you." Alec tried to give Magnus an affectionate nudge with his foot and somehow sent his chair spinning toward the window. Magnus chuckled softly and used magic to keep Alec steady and facing him. Alec's solemn grimace touched Magnus's heart. "My earlier outburst wasn't an accusation against you, Magnus. You're doing all you can to help find a solution, probably more than you should. Who's helping _you_?"

"Certainly not the Chairman," Magnus said with another pout at their spoiled and lazy tabby cat.

"I'm not going to get jealous or move back to the Institute if you need to spend some combined research and vacation time with your friends. I'll be too exhausted from my supercharged theory and practical lessons to enjoy your company properly, anyway."

So casually did Alec sow fresh seeds of hope! Magnus vacated his egg with astonishing grace, judging by Alec's envious expression, to stand in front of Alec. He put his hands on Alec's knees and kissed him firmly. "I love you."

"Send me bedtime nudie pics to prove it. You know the ones I mean," Alec added without subtlety.

Magnus promised while unwrapping Alec's towel. Then bent to suck Alec off...

 

~~~

 

"So ends the perpetual porn party at Booty Call Central," said Jace during agility training. Clary, Izzy and Simon got whatever joke Alec missed after telling them Catarina would be the local warlock on call while Magnus was away.

"The what where?" Alec asked.

"The unending sex-fest in the Lurrrve Loft, OW!" Jace rubbed the back of his head where Simon had hit it with one of the weighted wrist cuffs they'd all been wearing during the supervised half of the session. Clary thanked Simon with a sharp glare at Jace. Izzy's smile for Simon was smugly possessive. Now Jace was confused and Alec in the know. "What?" Jace asked Simon.

Izzy answered for him. "Poor Clary. At least Magnus and I are lucky enough to have paired up with gentlemen who know how to treat their partners with raunchy approval as well as _respect_."

"Girls just naturally and frustratingly want to have sex less than guys," Jace grumbled, still rubbing his head.

"No we don't!" Clary and Iz informed him together.

"They just want to make love more often," Simon added diplomatically. Alec subtly gestured 'good call' in his direction. Not that Alec wanted Simon regularly getting intimate with Iz, but he did want his sister to be in a relationship as solid and satisfying as the one Alec enjoyed with Magnus.

"Has anyone heard from Aline or Helen?" Alec asked in an attempt to get Jace thinking about something other than the sex lives of everyone currently in the room.

"Isabelle saw Aline yesterday," Clary replied.

Iz nodded sadly. "Aline without Helen is even more wretched than you without Magnus. Not now, obviously, because you still have him, but before. It was worse than being around someone whose parabatai has died. They can't even correspond without the Clave's interference!"

"It could be like that for you and Magnus depending on where the Clave suspects his loyalties lie," Jace put in. "Mom and Robert recently had to shout down some Clave member's demand that Alec's Marks be stripped "for so obviously flaunting his aberration," though Robert didn't protest anywhere near as loudly as Mom." Jace was clearly revealing that last part for the first time since Simon and Clary acted together to restrain Izzy's indignant rage while completely agreeing with her. Jace focused on Alec. "Mom didn't try to blame Magnus or claim your partnership is a phase. Even without Mom, the six of us have defeated bigots more menacing than the Clave. Sorry Clary." Jace took hold of his girlfriend's hand. Her father and brother had been the bigots Jace described.

Clary reached to give Alec an assertive squeeze with her other hand. "He's right. We won't let that happen to you. If any of us had known that the Clave intended to send Helen to ... Where do they study the wards again?" Clary asked Jace. He murmured the location and Clary repeated it. "Wrangel Island, then we would have done everything possible to stop it!"

Alec admitted during his nightly phone conversation with Magnus that he'd been surprised and almost overwhelmed by their adamant support. He deliberately left out Jace's denigrating comments about Magnus and Alec's home life. "It got me thinking of that Stand By Me movie you made me watch with you recently, the opening monologue where the narrator wonders if anyone ever has the type of close knit friendships they'd formed when they were twelve. How would that feel to an immortal? Over a lifetime you could make enough friends to currently populate China. To have one group stand out and become a kind of measuring stick for friendship throughout the following eras...how do you cope?"

"Badly for the most part," Magnus admitted lightly. "I have stand out individuals rather than groups. Although quite a few of those individuals were clumped together at some point, come to think of it. I'm actually staying with one of them now, whom I would really like you to meet. I say "meet" even though you've already been introduced, but that's barely enough to establish an association..."

Alec sat forward in bed, wishing he could see Magnus in person, maybe touch his gorgeous face. "Magnus, are you _nervous?"_ He could hear Magnus tapping his fingernails on something.

"Very," Magnus admitted. "You and Tessa would have very different conversations behind my back than the ones with Camille. More the sort that Isabelle and Clary have about Jace. Affectionately teasing ones that will no doubt make me rue the very day the two of you became acquainted, once I overhear them. I know you think I'm ridiculous and whimsical..."

"Not always. That didn't sound as reassuring as it's meant to," Alec added so hastily that Magnus probably couldn't interpret it as English. Maybe it wasn't English. He didn't care. Alec didn't like to hear Magnus feeling insecure. Uncertainty did not sit well with Magnus. Alec was relieved to hear the hint of smile in his lover's reply.

"Oh my dear sweet Angel warrior of love! How swift and steadfast you are to protect me! And to send me naked pictures of yourself."

"Magnus," Alec said sternly. "We'll discuss the response you sent after we've finished the actual conversation part of this phone call. In great detail," Alec replied with a low cough. "But for now..."

"Oh alright! Point is, there's a lot we can learn together from Tessa about what's coming, and what's been before. For bonus material, you can ask someone I know about me not only with my knowledge this time, but also with my permission! So if there is room in your behemoth educational schedule for a few consecutive days' respite, I'd truly benefit from your immediate company."

"I love and miss you too. Will see what I can do."

"So," Magnus purred down the phone. Alec heard the rustle of a bedsheet. "Did you like the video snippet of me masturbating over you?"

"Not sure yet. Plan to watch it again then beat myself to sleep thinking about it. Let you know my critical opinion tomorrow. Goodnight Magnus."

"Alexan...!!!" Magnus exclaimed in frustration. Alec didn't hear the rest. He'd already hung up and begun scrolling for the pertinent video.

 

~~~

 

The London Institute was where Magnus's initial affiliation with the Nephilim had begun. He felt strangely at peace watching Alec spar with Jem Carstairs in its training room. Tessa sat on the sidelines with Magnus, experiencing similar deja vu.

"He has Will and Cecily's looks to a T, so thanks for the warning," Tessa said to Magnus. "Definitely Cecily's curiosity," she murmured. "I never realized I knew so much about you until Alec began his polite interrogation." Tessa smiled at Magnus as she teased. "He listens and processes like Henry, though. Makes me miss them all again. Yet he's still unique."

Magnus made a sound of content agreement. "He is indeed."

"I'm happy that you're in love with someone who loves you so deeply and isn't embarrassed to say or show it. Unfortunately it puts you in the heart of a terrible dilemma. I'm not sure what advice to give you, or whether I have the right to offer any. Events made the decisions for the three of us," Tessa said with a gesture toward her husband Jem and in reference to Jem's parabatai, Will Herondale, who had been her husband several decades ago. "I have always, _always_ , felt as though I'm betraying them both by loving them equally. Why am I so lucky to have them love me equally, too?"

"Due to the immeasurable capacity for empathy and love that you possess, perhaps? Alec must think I have a heart of stone compared to yours!" His complaint was put to rest by Tessa's friendly nudge and gentle scoff. "I'm completely certain in regards to what I want to do. I _want_ to age with Alec. That doesn't mean I _should_." Magnus gave a rather grunty sigh of exasperation and clicked the rings on his fingers together. "The same instinct that pointed out Alec, insists that my vision as well as my decision are dependent on the fate of Mark Hawthorn. For the love of all things shimmering and shiny, I can't see why!"

"Perhaps you should dress like Alec for a while, to avoid being constantly dazzled by your reflection," Tessa teased.

"Better yet: I could go naked!" Magnus said eagerly. Alec dropped the dummy Seraph blade he'd been using against Jem then gave Magnus an accusing stare. Magnus smirked and cracked his back. They'd said a very vigorous hello soon after Alec's arrival in London this morning. Three entire weeks was far too long to be apart. "Problem, Alexander?"

"Not yet," said Alec. "Are we done?" he asked Jem.

Jem looked at an antique fob watch and nodded. "The instructor from the Academy will arrive in the morning to cover enhancing our weapons with runes. We should enjoy the company and conversation of our favorite warlocks until then. Has Magnus told you how he helped create the first within realm portal in the basement of this very institute?" Jem asked as they packed up.

"We've barely been together two years, so he's only had time to brag about a small portion of his greatness. I'm sure he'll get around to it," Alec said with a wry smile that blossomed into a full grin at Magnus. "Unless you want to be sending me videos of you punishing yourself for another three weeks," Alec added against Magnus's ear as he bent down for a kiss that was not quite as chaste as the one Jem gave Tessa.

"They're a lot more forward nowadays, aren't they?" Magnus heard Jem murmur to Tessa. "Young people in general, that is."

"I find it rather intimidating," Tessa admitted in reply. "It suits Magnus perfectly, though, judging by that light behind his eyes. Even the smallest affectionate displays were considered scandalous when we were Alec's age!"

"Think of how poor Henry used to blush at the thought of holding Charlotte's hand!" said Jem.

"Poor repressed Shadowhunters," Magnus said in deepest sympathy. "Neither had truly understood that their marriage had been purely a love match, although everyone around them knew!" He continued with the story at Alec's insistence. Over dinner, Tessa and Jem filled in details of which Magnus had been unaware. It was a long, comfortable evening.

"So," Alec said as he slid into bed beside Magnus once everyone had said goodnight, "this is what your family feels like. Jem and Tessa are incredibly polite and informative. Nothing like my family at all. No wonder you were so nervous about inviting me here. A grouchy snob like me will never fit in."

"Have you finished trying to tease, Mr Smart Alec?" Magnus asked flatly. Alec made a silent "maybe" gesture then flipped onto his side to touch and look at Magnus.

"You didn't even know they had become your family, did you?" Alec asked while drawing uneven knots on Magnus's bare chest with his fingertips. "Family isn't about blood, Magnus. Jace is proof of that. Don't take this next part personally, okay, but I'd rather vacation together here again than at your father's."

"I don't need you to try to deflect my serious and emotional epiphanies with humor, Alexander. I can do that myself."

"Good, because I'm terrible at it."

"I've noticed," Magnus said wryly.

Alec shone his disco ball directly into Magnus's face. "Thank you for inviting me to meet your family, Magnus. And thanks for not wanting to make me immortal. I like my life the way it is."

Magnus rubbed one hand and then his lips over Alec's bare shoulder. " _Exactly_ the way it is?" he asked Alec.

"All that really needs changing to make it perfect, is the major expansion and renovation of harmfully narrow minds..." Magnus kissed Alec for both the sentiment and the adamance with which he spoke. "I love you, and love learning about you. You truly are magnificent."

"Sex is guaranteed, Alec. Flattery is unnecessary."

"You don't want me to verbally worship your wonderful self while we play? Is something wrong?" Alec asked with genuine concern.

"Only the same things that were wrong three weeks ago," Magnus had to admit.

Alec kissed him softly and repeatedly. "We have contacts around the world looking into that, night and day. Simon, Clary, and Luke are even checking mundane literature for clues. Take this night off to rejuvenate." He removed Magnus's silk pyjama pants and began moving his mouth downward.

Magnus tucked a finger under Alec's chin and re-established eye contact. "Top me?"

Alec kissed Magnus's navel-free abdomen then marked a trail all the way to Magnus's mouth again, while using his fingers the way Magnus had taught him. He'd only topped Magnus twice before and so the preparatory process was still new for him. Alec's whispered descriptions of the difference in sensations became more guttural and hormonal as they became fully aroused. His movements became less controlled and more instinctive. "Take whatever you need from me, Magnus," Alec said as he finally pushed inside. "Whether it's strength or my cock that you need." He leaned over Magnus with a hand under Magnus's bum and his forehead buried into the pillow so his breath moved across Magnus's ear and down his neck. "You give me so much," Alec said on the in thrust. Magnus let the momentum push him toward the bedhead with every plunge. It felt so good to be full of Alec, to be fulfilled _by_ him. "I was so hollow before you, without you."

Magnus could only pant and moan while Alec fucked him. He wanted to describe Alec's importance in verbose detail but currently needed to be lost in sensation, to let everything Alec felt and thought wash over and refuel every part of him, deep into his soul, now that Magnus knew he had one.

"You inspire more than lust in me. Have done from the start. I wouldn't be who I am now without you. When _you_ love someone, Magnus, you bring out the best in them, but only if they're capable of loving you back."

"Only if they're worthy," Magnus managed to say quietly as Alec moved slightly to let Magnus adjust his legs into a mutually more comfortable position.

"That's your true gift, Magnus," Alec said with a kiss then began to move inside him again. "Your incredible, wonderful, awesome magic is trivial in comparison."

"I love how you fuck your punctuation!" Magnus exclaimed blissfully.

"Learned from the best. Unfortunately my bassoon has only enough wind to perform one song tonight, not the whole opera. Conduct me through the crescendo?"

Magnus let his expression and body language communicate delight at Alec's analogy and then told him precisely what he needed to feel complete. To Magnus's intense satisfaction, Alec was as dedicated to fulfilling demands as making them during sex. They shared a very kissy shower as part of their coda. "I have the bassoon, by the way," Magnus saw fit to point out as clear, hot water rinsed suds down their satisfied bodies. "Although that is in no way an insult to your oboe."

Alec sharply flicked a wet washer against Magnus's left buttock and stepped out of the shower.

"What?" Magnus asked as rubbed the stinging flesh. "You could be endowed with a piccolo and I'd still want it in my orchestra pit!"

Alec turned in the process of thinking up a biting retort but then let it go once he set eyes on Magnus. The tight set of his features relaxed in response to whatever he saw and became a flickering smile of surprise. "You really would," he said with gentle astonishment and came back to give Magnus a tiny kiss on the lips. "My magnificent Magnus."

"Beautiful Eros, my warrior angel of love." Magnus held Alec's face to kiss him profoundly, and then sent him to bed with a slap to his rune-doodled rump.

 

~~~

 

Jem and Alec had been learning how to alter and enhance their weapons using runes for three days. It was mainly a refresher course for Jem but the complicated young man never tried to make Alec feel or look like an idiot. Alec was currently the youngest Shadowhunter at the London Institute since the Academy in Idris had been reopened. Clary and Simon likened the Academy to a mundane high school, which made the Institutes universities, or places of adult learning. A Shadowhunter who stopped learning earned early retirement to the City of Bones, so the saying went. Alec studied diligently. He'd never had more to live for. He had friends now as well as family, and had seen only a tiny sample of the world that Magnus wanted to share. Alec knew he was more than a refueling station for Magnus but embraced that particular role with gusto. Keeping Magnus alight somehow recharged Alec at the same time, just as Magnus also gained when he was the one providing a much needed boost. Alec knew Magnus was in for an exhausting evening as a generator the moment Robert Lightwood entered London's sitting room, unannounced.

"I'd heard London gave special dispensation to warlocks within her boundaries," Robert said with a scowl.

"Only these two, particular warlocks," Jem said with dignified authority as he lowered the violin he'd been playing. He looked little older than Alec but was in fact decades older than Alec's father, having spent the majority of the past century as one of the Silent Brothers.

"So the Clave will find no allies here," said Robert. The majority of his gruff disgust was aimed at Alec. Then he sagged. "You need to come home," he half-pleaded with Alec. "Whether to Idris or New York -- and I mean the Institute there, not..." Robert barely glanced at Magnus. "Your loyalty is in doubt, Alexander. There is increasing threat to ... I'm here to warn you of those threats, as your father, not to make them. Alec, if you have not dissolved this relationship with Magnus Bane by the time you turn twenty-one, the Clave will either strip you of your Marks or have your memories of this dalliance wiped from your mind."

"Dalliance?!?" Alec almost roared with anger. He drew an arrow from the quiver he always kept close at hand in unfamiliar surrounds and tossed a nearby book into the air as he marked a fire rune onto the arrow's tip. He launched the arrow from his bow before the book began its downward trajectory, pinning its flaming pages to a beam on the ceiling. He ignored Jem and Tessa's efforts to put it out. Alec came close to snarling as he pointed at the smoldering book. "That will be the face of anyone who tries."

"Fate..." his father attempted to correct.

Alec held a second arrow by the shaft and pressed the tip against his father's left cheek, just below his eye. " _Face_ , and I mean _anyone_. We need Magnus Bane and Tessa Gray to help prepare us and the mundanes against whatever retaliation the Faerie courts are putting together. I need and support Magnus Bane the way you should have needed and supported Mom! He does the same for me. So tell your friends at the Clave that Alexander Lightwood refuses to comply with their ridiculous and no doubt hypocritical demands! Magnus invented those portals you use to get everywhere, along with Henry Branwell, whose wife Charlotte Fairchild was in charge of the very Institute in which you now stand. Show some respect!"

There was silence as Alec returned arrow to quiver. "You should leave," he told his father quietly, despite his thrumming agitation. "Don't approach me again unless Isabelle, Jace, and Mom are all unable to ask for my help directly. I want nothing to do with you or the dregs of your Circle bigotry." Alec turned his back on Robert and went to retrieve the arrow from the ceiling. He apologised to Magnus, Tessa, and Jem once Robert left in flabbergasted silence.

"That was all very Gabriel, was it not?" Jem asked Tessa quietly. "Is it correct to assume you've never seen your young Alec lose his temper quite like that before?" he then asked Magnus, who had apparently been staring, gobsmacked, at the entire exchange.

"Is it wrong to be turned on as well as insanely proud and a little bit afraid of him right now?" Magnus murmured through one corner of his mouth. His eyes were as bright and gold as his metallic eyeliner.

"Seems a thoroughly appropriate response," Jem conceded then sought his wife's approval. "Tessa?"

Tessa nodded through her stifled amusement. "Quite appropriate," she said then caught Alec into an unexpected embrace and kissed the side of his face.

"Magnus," Alec pleaded for help.

"Oh no, my darling. You deserve everything you get! Kiss his other cheek Tessa, or his face will droop unevenly from all the slobber you've applied to only one side."

Magnus laughed and Jem chuckled as Tessa squeezed Alec's cheeks together to take phony measurements before evening him up. Alec tried to tell them he hated them all through his puckered lips. Magnus laughed harder and promised to apply three times as many kisses as Tessa delivered, once they were alone. "Not just on your face."

Alec relented and let them have their way. Future rewards would far outweigh his present suffering, by a millionfold.


	5. Tiny Pieces of Laughter and Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> living their love, post canon

The Clave had no opportunity to carry out its threat against Alexander. "These skirmishes are bait, intended to disrupt communications between Institutes and distract us all from whatever the Faerie courts..." the recently appointed Consul announced to representatives of the various factions during yet another emergency Accords meeting.

"I'm quite happy for the Clave to be hunting its own shadow if that removes the anvil they keep dangling over my domestic bliss. Just out of curiosity," Magnus added in loud imitation of a confidential whisper, "would your precious Clave allow Alexander Lightwood to keep his Marks and memories of our relationship if I were to be slightly less, well, immortal? Or is it the whole 'he has a penis and I also have a penis' thing that offends Nephilim the most? Because that's kind of why we find each other attractive in more than a platonic..." Magnus felt Luke Galloway press a heavily booted foot down on top of his bare one. Magnus had kicked his sandals off under the table the moment he sat down, so having his foot subtly stomped hurt like the proverbial Dickens. Also, Luke was the werewolf representative while Maia recovered from surgery. Magnus did not want to have to explain boot and claw marks to Alec.

"The interjection from Magnus Bane will be struck from the minutes," the Consul intoned dully. Robert Lightwood, seated in a specially segregated secretarial corner, clearly hadn't bothered to record Magnus's remarks since he made no movement to erase them, and Magnus doubted Robert would allow such mention of his son to remain on record.

Magnus remained silent for the rest of the meeting and then made sure to leave directly beside Robert in order to follow him. "Alec and I have been living together for almost five years. Longer, if you count our first attempt. I intend to marry him, if he accepts my proposal during our annual holiday later in the year. Which we have chosen to delay thanks to Isabelle's little announcement of her own nuptials and then the follow up. Alec wants to be close by when his sister produces her spawnling, or whatever the term is for infants born of Shadowhunters." He waved a negligently dismissive hand. Magnus took a closer look at that hand and then held both out to Robert so the many rings were on full display. "Which do you think Alec will prefer? Perhaps it would be more romantic to let him choose for himself..."

Robert stopped walking and turned to fully face Magnus. "Do you think Alexander would be impressed by any of your displays today? Maryse and I have no problem with the fact that our son is gay. It is a constant source of agitation, however, that the object of Alexander's affection continues to be _you_!"

"Is it the Asian thing?" Magnus asked with a lazy hand gesture toward his face. "Or my paternity? Because I didn't choose to be the son of a Fallen Angel."

"It isn't, and you didn't, but you did choose to break up with Alexander twice before. I'm going to stab you with my stele the next time you break my son's heart as it is. _Marry_ Alexander then break his heart and I will dismember you, seal each piece into individual jars, and then bury each jar in a separate country." Robert gestured for Magnus to follow him along a more private stretch of corridor. "My past behavior almost destroyed Alexander's mother..."

"I _love_ Alec..."

"And I loved Maryse, but then later I loved someone else."

"I've lived hundreds of years and have never met _anyone_ who compares favorably to Alec. You didn't threaten Simon with dismemberment ..."

"I most certainly did!"

"Oh," Magnus said with genuine surprise.

"The whole family is aware of Isabelle's extensive dating history before Simon. You _are_ Alexander's dating history. How can he know beyond any given moment that you're the one he wants to spend his life with?"

"I don't know," Magnus admitted. "I only know that I'm who he wants for now. And that there's no-one prepared to chop _him_ into pieces if he breaks _my_ heart! Though I should say _when_ , not if, because whether Alec walks out on me today or dies in my arms seventy years from now..." Magnus felt the slight tremble familiar with thoughts of that particular impending devastation.

Robert was clearly taken aback. He touched Magnus's elbow in sympathetic apology. Magnus felt prompted to confide something he hadn't mentioned to Tessa or Catarina yet.

"I'm not seeking your permission or blessing for this endeavour, because then I'd have to extend the same courtesy to my father. Nobody wants that. But if Alec does say yes to marriage, then I plan to discuss taking his name. It will be a permanent change. Something of Alec to keep for the rest of my ridiculously long life that can never be stolen or dropped down a drain, will never fade or lose its original shape. I don't want Alec to die, but forever is far too long for anything with a mind to live. The pain and frustrations are relentless. He's sensible enough to see that I would never put him through that. He's sensible enough to not want immortality in the first place."

"Don't, enough. I actually get that you're serious. Now I'm hoping for your sake that Alec says yes before the Clave has an opportunity to act against you both. For the record, it isn't only Downworlders keeping the Clave from storming your apartment. And Bane," Robert said while indicating this is where they would part ways, "never mention my son's penis in public again."

 

~~~

 

Alec had become accustomed to the way Magnus repacked Alec's suitcase for their international getaways. Technically, Alec didn't need luggage, but felt more comfortable knowing he wouldn't be stranded naked and far from home if something happened to Magnus. This particular routine hadn't changed in five years. They would talk seriously between frivolous arguing over what went in and came out of the suitcase, which Alec liked. Magnus handed back a comfortable sweater and inserted a newer one of similar knit and color, the only compromise he'd been willing to make so far. There were more suits and fewer jeans this year. Alec suspected Magnus was up to something.

"We need to decide within the next year or four," Magnus said while pressing the folded sweater neatly on top of the other casual wear. He always packed everything in sections according to a complicated system that still made no sense to Alec.

"Decide what?" Alec asked as he slid another dormant Seraph blade into the lining before Magnus could zip the case closed. "I thought we had everything now."

"Whether I become mortal. If we wait too long you'll look like a dirty old deviant for the rest of our lives."

Alec sat on the bed beside the suitcase. He noticed the shake in Magnus's hands as he began to slide the zip. This particular topic hadn't been raised in years. Alec touched Magnus on the wrist. "Stop," he said bluntly then began again in a milder tone. "This isn't meant to sound cruel, but how many times have you considered this before me? What if we go through with it and you meet an immortal you'd rather spend your life with? Those are just two from hundreds of questions I asked myself when Camille made the suggestion, but every one of them contributed to refusing her offer." Without standing, Alec reached took hold of Magnus's hands then hauled him to stand between Alec's knees. "For purely selfish reasons I want to immediately say yes, do it! But what about your visions of bone towers standing in streets filled with blood? What if that's the fate of our world without you here to protect it?"

"What if living too long breaks me completely and my immortal, crazy self _causes_ that vision to come to pass?" Magnus asked with mournful horror bowing his shoulders and distorting his gorgeous features. "It's the twisted kind of fate my father would delight in."

Alec admitted to never considering that possibility. "When your previous mortal partners got old, how did you still find them attractive? _Did_ you? Were you or any of them revolted by the sight and touch of their wrinkled and spotty old hands on your firm, smooth skin?"

"Inside, in my heart and head, I've always been far older than they were. It is never easy to reconcile an aged persona with a youthful visage. Yes I see firm, smooth skin, but I see other blemishes of age that for some reason remain invisible to those who have loved me. I used a glamour to age my appearance to match theirs when we were out in public. Sometimes I maintained that glamour in private, when I was less than two centuries old, still young for a warlock, and thought it would sustain the relationship. As for your first 'unintentionally cruel' question: I have considered this before, but never deeply enough to research it properly. I haven't mentioned it in a while because I know you will ask questions. I need to anticipate and know the answers to as many of those questions before broaching the topic again, so we can discuss it thoroughly and make the decision together."

"Is it reversible if you change your mind?"

"Why should I change my mind? Won't you still be attracted to me once I'm no longer toned, taut, and terrific?"

"It's going to take away your terrific, too? Then no deal!"

"Alec, I'm serious."

"Magnus, you've lived inside this handsome face and virile body for hundreds of years. Will _you_ cope with the physical changes and pains associated with aging? It's a constant process for me. I have no choice. That's why I asked if it's reversible. I can't bear the thought of you being trapped in a horror movie when we're trying to create a romance."

Magnus squeezed Alec's hands and then curled them behind Alec's neck as he straddled Alec's lap. "You're the first person to ask me any of these questions, to try and see from my perspective. I've told you every year since we met that you are so many of my firsts. I want to share this once-in-an-immortal-lifetime experience with you."

"I consider it a privilege."

"Another reason why I'm certain this time. I can't survive centuries without you without going mad or turning evil. I didn't truly understand the expression 'bleak' until you found me in Edom and then considered rejecting my love and apologies in Alicante."

"Highly literate warlock like you?" Alec teased mildly. His hands shook to the shoulder as he reflexively caressed Magnus's sides.

Magnus scolded him just as mildly. "Alec."

"So I'm not as adept as you or Jace at deflecting overwhelmingly emotional moments with humor..."

"No, you're not, which is actually one from a list of millions of things I love about you."

"This world is definitely bleak without the way you love. I _love_ the way you love everything. It's the main reason I accepted your invitation to try again," Alec admitted.

"Marry me," Magnus said solemnly and without warning. "Whether we agree to the terms required to make me mortal or not, I want you to marry me."

"Isn't that _less_ possible than the immortality switch?"

"Depends where we go. There happen to be several places on this year's itinerary, okay, all of them..."

Alec looked to his half-zipped suitcase then back to Magnus. He felt his eyes and mouth become rounder with guilt. "Have I ruined a meticulously planned, fantastically romantic marriage proposal by causing you to blurt it out like that?"

"Only if you intend to refuse," Magnus replied with semi-pout and glib shrug. "Which tends to ruin any proposal, scheduled _or_ impromptu," he added. "Besides, you know I prefer spontaneity." He pressed his forehead gently against Alec's and looked into his eyes. "Well, Alexander?" Magnus asked with a deep breath of anticipation and delicate wiggle on Alec's lap. "Do you intend to refuse?"

"I intend to accept," Alec said hoarsely, but with a smile. They shared a slow, gentle kiss. "After all this time together I still want more."

"Oh my Alec!" Magnus exclaimed in a whisper then kissed Alec again. "Extending your life by any method I've found requires removing your Marks, otherwise I'd offer you immortality as well as marriage -- if I didn't know you were so set against it, that is."

"You don't believe it would corrupt me?"

Magnus tilted his head back as he laughed brightly, exposing his throat enough for Alec to nip at it. "I haven't managed to corrupt you in seven years!" Magnus exclaimed with delight.

"No?" Alec asked archly and slid both hands down the back of Magnus's green silk with metallic thread harem pants, hauling him forward and rolling up beneath him. "Remember the position you were in last night? I would never have come up with that before meeting you."

"That was indeed a novel use for..."

Alec silenced Magnus with a kiss that involved a lot of tongue and even more finger action inside Magnus's pants. He could feel Magnus grow hard in response to the fingering. The heat of him pressed through Alec's shirt. "Want you inside of me this time," Alec said. "Bend me over our bed and stand behind me."

"As my bossy bottom demands. But I get to choose what you wear on our wedding night! It'll probably involve edible body paint..."

"...and spoof," Alec added while they undressed.

"Mostly spoof," Magnus admitted shamelessly, "after I've eaten you through the body paint. This bed is the perfect height for this position! Well chosen, my love."

"Be quiet and prep meohOHholyfuck!"

Magnus hadn't wasted any time between getting naked and lubing his finger for Alec's hole. The tickle of his thumb circumnavigating Alec's rim contrasted with the plunge of finger inside. "So many relaxant, tightening, and stamina runes we've applied here, my love." Magnus knelt down, removed his finger, spread Alec's cheeks, and began to lick. Alec absently humped their bed. "The first time we made love you said you'd rather be stripped of your faded and permanent runes than let me be accused of seducing you." Alec's balls tingled and moved as Magnus alternated rimming with fingering. "There are layers of them now," lube and saliva squelched as Magnus plunged and scooped, "all over your delicious body, but these in particular map out our history. Histories are important to you, my Alec, especially ours. I will _never_ let anyone take this evidence of our love from you." He kissed Alec from hole to neck along the path of Alec's spine and then pushed inside him. Magnus covered Alec's hands with his. Alec linked their fingers together, moving his hips and lower back to gain more pleasure from the sensation of fullness at every thrust. The slap of eager bodies became louder, their voices hoarser until neither could be bothered with words.

Alec could feel Magnus getting close, but Alec needed more. Magnus must have sensed it because he suddenly hauled Alec back by the hips so Magnus knelt on his haunches with Alec astride him. Magnus was so swollen he didn't need magic to keep them attached.

"Ride me Shadowhunter. Sit on my cock so hard you go blind. Guide me to that spot inside you and then ride me through oblivion."

Alec gripped the side of the mattress with both hands and bounced down on Magnus as Magnus thrust up. Shocked sounds were forced out of them both, louder from Alec. Magnus had never felt so wide and tall before. Alec could feel him getting tantalisingly close to that spot they hadn't, quite, managed, to locate, before "HOLY FUCKING FUCK!!!!" he cried out. They found it.

Magnus made a sound that could only be described as triumphant. "Now I know what _you_ feel like," Magnus almost growled as he took a sharper hold on Alec's hips and pushed him up and forward again, crushing Alec into the side of their bed rather than lifting him back on it as Magnus hammered into him. Alec shouted a nonsense syllable with every pound until he was feeling raw and pleaded with Magnus to come.

"Just let me come," Alec almost whimpered the words. He was exhausted and overstimulated.

"Who's stopping you, darling?" Magnus murmured gruffly.

"I have, already," Alec admitted. "Feels like there's more, but there's nothing, got nothing left."

"You can't have, I would have felt it," Magnus said with curiosity and concern. He slowed but didn't alter the depth. "I always feel you."

"Not this time. Fucked me through it then kept me hard. Feel the bed." Alec brought Magnus's hand to the spludge he'd been crushing Alec against for ages. That contact was enough to make Magnus blow. His shudder echoed Alec's pleasurable torture.

"I'm so sorry," Magnus said delicately once he eased Alec onto the floor and kissed his face. "We didn't even apply runes or..." Alec kissed Magnus's worried pout. "I'm so sorry," Magnus repeated in a whisper. He had his eyes closed.

"Don't be," Alec whispered back. "We both have very good reason to be a little overexcited now and then. Especially now, don't you think?" He raised his lips to kiss Magnus again, the barest touch. "Open your eyes. Look at me. Tell me you forgive me."

Gold-green eyes flashed open. Magnus looked confused. "But there's nothing to forgive!" he told Alec.

Alec caressed Magnus's face. "That's the point."

Magnus kissed him softly. "I love you Alec Lightwood. Let me see for myself that I've done you no harm, though, okay?"

Alec nodded then fell in love with Magnus's small smile of gentle relief. Magnus's loving, healing hands were careful as he explained that males weren't designed to experience multiple, consecutive orgasms to the same level of intensity as women. "A major design flaw from one perspective, but we mustn't begrudge them that ability in light of all the other hormonal horrors they have to endure, from which we are spared. Our climactic tanks simply take longer to refill than theirs. Without the blessing of Nephilim and warlock runes, that is. I'll just tend to the care of this tender spot here..." Magnus applied the lightest kiss to Alec's rim. Then another after Alec inhaled with pleasure rather than pain. Then another, and so on until the series of kisses became licks. "I can taste me inside you. Our flavors combine here, where you're leaking. It's the most amazing thing, seeing you twitch open and closed in response to the breath of my words moving across your skin." Magnus moved his mouth closer and exhaled gently across Alec's stretched and sticky hole. "Your body tries to take back in every drip that leaks out. So hungry for me." Magnus pushed in with the tip of his tongue then flicked it against Alec's rim until Alec invited Magnus to eat the cum out of him.

Alec swivelled and writhed against Magnus's face as Magnus licked and sucked. Alec's dick hardened further as he felt his balls swell again. "Yesss," he almost sighed, "ohhh yesss."

Magnus entered him again and slid slowly inside Alec this time, bringing them to a gentle, simultaneous climax there on the floor. Spooning through their afterglow, Alec held Magnus's hand over his heart. "Let me know _everything_ involved in the process to make you mortal," said Alec, "then we'll discuss options. The ultimate decision will always be yours but I need to be fully informed in order to support you, either way."

He felt the firm press of lips against the back of his neck. The cheek that then rested against his shoulder was damp.

"You are my soul mate, Alexander. If souls are truly recycled then it won't matter if I die of old age because we will be together again, and again, and again, whether on this world or others."

Alec turned to embrace Magnus heart to heart and cheek to cheek. "If so, then I will _always_ find you."

 

~~~

 

The hand-fasting ceremony at the juncture of Welsh lay-lines was incredibly private and simple. That didn't stop it feeling momentous. Isabelle's eyes began watering the moment she caught sight of Magnus in his loose, partially open white shirt and crisp white trousers. His feet were bare. Alec's feet were also bare and his similar outfit had been carefully tailored to fit his lithe, muscled frame. Magnus had obviously bought those clothes. Isabelle rocked her month-old daughter Sophia and kissed the baby's wisp of dark hair as she watched Alec participate in one of the world's oldest traditions. Simon moved closer to Izzy and put his hand on her back when the newlyweds kissed. Even Jace was unusually reverent. The marriage between Alec and Magnus would only be legally recognised in some parts of the mundane world, and nowhere among Nephilim. Pockets of Downworlder populations who supported such traditions often considered ye olde bedding-for-a-wedding to be official enough. None of those gathered to witness had known for sure why Magnus and Alec suddenly wanted company during their standing-reservation alone time. Izzy had hoped so hard she'd made herself cry in the shower last night. Izzy, Simon, Jace, and Clary had used new-baby cabin-fever as an excuse to join Alec and Magnus without rousing parental suspicion. If Mom and Dad didn't know Alec was breaking Clave Law, then they couldn't be questioned, punished, or threatened. Iz reminded herself of her father's words so she could repeat them to Alec later. _"If you've been invited to join your brother and his partner for some reason other than to get you out into the world for the first time since Sophia's arrival, then may the Angel bless what Nephilim fear to accept. Tell Magnus that Maryse has plenty of jars. Look menacing while you say it."_

"I can't believe Alec did that," Jace murmured into Izzy's reverie. "Thirteen years of telling me to not do anything reckless, to play safe, and he does this. Better if Magnus had let him die in the first place than ... Our brother's a dead man, Iz. When they find out, Alec's dead."

"If Dad can be happy for them, you can," Izzy insisted through clenched teeth hidden behind a smile in case Alec chose that moment to take a break from staring at Magnus with adoration.

"It isn't up to Robert, or Mom."

"No," said Simon. "It's up to us. Like everything has been since the day you became visible to Clary."

Isabelle sighed with contentment as she gazed into the dark green eyes of her baby girl. "Your nerd-boy father is SO awesome," she told Sophia.

"So is her Uncle Magnus," Alec said as he and Magnus approached their family of witnesses. He held his hands out as a request to hold his niece. "Magnus is the sexy comedic uncle, I'm the boringly sane uncle, and Jace is the reckless _maaad_ uncle," Alec said in a sing-song nursery rhyme kind of way to Sophia as he bounced her gently in his arms and smiled at her. He looked up and grinned at Jace. "When you and Clary start breeding, then Simon becomes the nerrrrrd uncle."

Jace laughed.

"You're horrible," Izzy said bluntly. "Give me back my baby." Izzy clicked her fingers and held out her hands.

Alec held Sophia protectively against his chest. "Not yet. Eventually. Maybe... She's adorable Iz. And so soft. Like you used to be before you were old enough to train properly with Hodge." He smiled sadly into Iz's eyes despite his personal joy. That was Alec,thought Iz.

The couple who'd come to bear witness for Magnus had finished talking with the celebrant and now approached the rest of them. Jem Carstairs had aged since being released from his vow as a Silent Brother. Tessa looked the same age as she had at Jocelyn and Luke Galloway's marriage six years ago. Tessa's mother had been born a Shadowhunter but never Marked because she'd been abducted as an infant. If not for that, Tessa would not have been permitted by the Clave to marry either Will Herondale or Jem. Like Magnus, Tessa's father was a demon.

"Help me convince your brother to apply for a teaching position at the Academy in Idris," Tessa said to Izzy as Jem shook hands with Magnus. "He won't have to spend his nights there," Tessa added for Magnus's benefit.

They all looked up at the sudden sound of a hunting horn carving its way through the sky high above them. The rumble of hooves and yapping hellhounds followed soon after. As the noises began to fade, an adolescent boy dropped from nothing they could see and grabbed hold of Tessa's shoulder.

"Emma!" he said fiercely, with one iris glowing with the flame of possession as he scowled at Tessa. "Why aren't you with Emma?" he shouted before a gauntleted hand, larger than the boy's head, emerged through an invisible boundary and yanked him backwards by the back of his shirt, and out of sight.

 

The sounds of the Wild Hunt were also gone.

"...this region out of season?" Isabelle heard Magnus ponder to someone. She turned to Alec, who still had careful hold of her daughter. Tessa spoke urgently before anyone else could utter a sound.

"We have to get back to Los Angeles. Mark Blackthorn risked a second escape attempt to warn us about Emma... The girl is determined to uncover the truth of her parents' murders. But why Mark... I'm sorry Magnus."

"Do you need the rest of us?" Alec asked, surprising them all and upsetting Magnus.

It was Jem who replied. "Thank you, but no. Our people and resources are being pulled in so many directions that it's best to focus on our individual responsibilities for now. There will come a time, though, where we may hold you to that offer. It's vital that you all stay together until then. Not necessarily within physical reach, just make sure your hearts and ears remain open to each other." He took hold of his wife's waiting hand and they ran to the portal created for their arrival.

"Still stunned by just how hot Brother Zachariah got now he's able to be Jem again. I mean HOT," Izzy said without thinking. Behind and beside her, Clary and Alec said "Mm-hmm!" All three earned scowls from their husbands.

"I received a husband today, Magnus, not a lobotomy. Don't pretend you've never checked him out. That's right, you preferred his best friend!" Alec teased mercilessly but without anger. Simon swiftly stepped in to remove Sophia from the line of fire as Magnus growled.

"I know _exactly_ which button to repeatedly mash to make you apologise for those statements," Magnus assured Alec.

Alec blanched. "I haven't fully recovered from the proposal yet."

"Time to go home?" suggested Simon.

"Oh yeah," agreed Isabelle and Clary together.

"Beyond time," said Jace. So the five of them portaled back to New York to lie to Maryse about where they'd been and why.

 

~~~

 

They had an argument towards the end of their holiday. Alec had become increasingly tetchy and began checking his phone during any protracted silence. "Is our honeymoon boring you?" Magnus asked acidly and found Alec's startled frown rather satisfying.

"What makes you say that?" Alec asked.

"Your mind seems to be focused on something other than your magnificent husband. It normally takes five years for marital boredom to set in, not five days."

Alec's muttered response included the word ridiculous. His eyes had already returned to his silent phone.

"Go home Alexander," Magnus said through clenched teeth.

Alec looked up immediately. His eyes were so round and sad. "What?" he asked. Mild alarm sent his voice into a slightly higher register.

"You're hoping some life-threatening action will require your attention so you can get away from me..."

"I'm hoping for an update from our families and friends so I can stop worrying about them, and Emma Carstairs, and how Mark Blackthorn knew she was not with Tessa and James. Then I _can_ relax enough to focus entirely on you, without having sections of my mind on constant alert for potential interruptions!" Alec made a 'tcht' sound and shook his head at the ceiling. "It was obvious you were high maintenance when we started, but for Angels' sake Magnus!"

"You can't save everyone! You can't hold yourself _responsible_ for everyone! Your precious Angels don't."

"What you're really saying is that I mustn't be responsible for anyone, because the most vulnerable and innocent of those I am responsible for, end up dead!"

Magnus did not retreat from the way Alec leaned forward. "What I'm saying, Alexander, is that you are not the Highlander, there can be more than one! ...I haven't made you watch that yet, have I?" Magnus added meekly. He too raised his face to the ceiling in frustration. " _We_ can't save everyone. Every time we let something we can't do take a bite from our rumps, there is less of us left to do the things we _can_ , until we're too weak and defeated to achieve anything. This," Magnus said while taking Alec's phone and flipping it closed, "is not your fight."

"It became my fight when the majority of Nephilim ignored my vote and my voice the night they condemned all the Blackthorn children to separation and misery!"

"Ignoring the rights and contributions of their own people is what Nephilim do best! The Shadowhunters I met when Tessa was an _actual_ teenage girl, not just some old warlock who looks one, were the most affectionate and honorable Nephilim I have ever known..."

"Oh really? Thanks!"

"Alexander! Let me finish. But the self-serving arsehole Consul, and by extension the entire Council of Shadowhunters, treated every inhabitant of the London Institute like Untouchables from the Hindu caste system. Charlotte Fairchild - for being a woman. Henry Branwell - for being more of a thinker than a fighter, and for the most part an incredibly gentle man, all of which led to slurs against his efficacy as Charlotte's husband. James Carstairs - because he'd been forced into narcotic dependence as a child. Will Herondale - for being the son of a rune-stripped Shadowhunter who had married a mundane. Gideon and Gabriel Lightwood - for having a father who shouted death to all Downworlders and demons while fucking demons behind closed doors. Let's not forget what the current Council intends to do to you! Nephilim society is the coldest, cruelest, most hypocritical of all human cultures! The entire world would be better off without it!" Magnus concluded with a shout.

Alec stared blankly. Magnus went into the sleeping section of their ocean liner suite and slammed the door shut behind him before Alec could respond to the last remark, that Magnus had in no way intended to think, let alone bellow. Alec quietly opened it a few seconds later without coming all the way in. Not that all the way in was all that far...

"Magnus," he said softly. "I know you regret the last thing you said before you came in here. One spontaneous statement doesn't make _you_ the cause of the devastation in your vision. You obviously terrified and shocked yourself by saying it."

"I don't believe it, not completely, no." Magnus stared down at his hands, which he clasped desperately together. "That doesn't mean I won't believe and mean it down the track." He looked at Alec. "You think _you_ feel useless? Try watching tribes of mortals perform the same dance of ignorance, generation, after generation, after generation ... You never bloody learn! Any of you! Vampires are just as bloody bad - like a perpetual old codger meeting that produces nothing but more old codgers! I'm fed up with trying to save and educate people who so stubbornly prefer to wallow in ignorance! I don't ... I don't want you to become equally disappointed and morose."

Alec came closer. "I was born morose."

Magnus took hold of Alec's hand and rubbed Alec's fingers with his thumb. "I am scared that dissatisfaction with your leaders is becoming anger, that your anger will then become hate. That you are gradually changing from my Angel of love to an Angel of war. Angels of war too often become demons. That is not a fate worthy of you."

"Do you regret not having this particular argument before you proposed?" Alec asked quietly.

Magnus shook his head, displacing his spectacularly sculpted hair. He squinted up at Alec. Partly from uncertainty, also due to the section of hair that flopped over an eye. Alec pushed the offending strands back into place.

"You'd look breathtakingly fabulous with white blond hair. Maybe a wedge of whatever bright color takes your fancy, here," Alec said as he let the disobedient section slide between his fingers. "You could change it to match your ensemble or mood." Alec looked Magnus in the eye, still stroking his hair. "You're always beautiful..."

Magnus momentarily became lost in a vision as he looked up at Alec. Everything in this vision was greyscale, the deepest greys verging on purple. Alec stood above Magnus, looking down at him like now, except his torso was bare - and he had wings! Not gold wings of an Angel, but foggy grey, each feather like a dormant seraph blade. His irises were no longer cobalt blue, but the color of lightning. The boom of his voice was like thunder as he pronounced Magnus's name and reached to grab Magnus by the shoulder...

"...Magnus?" Alec prompted quietly.

Magnus pulled back from Alec's loving caress in alarm and stared up into his face. Alec's lovely blue eyes and kissable mouth frowned briefly in concern. Magnus hugged him to prevent cold from creeping into Alec's heart, as though Alec had hypothermia. If Alec changed, then so would Magnus, because their happiness and strength were intrinsically linked. Closer than parabatai - _take that, Jace!_ A warlock to become mortal using the Book of the White required small samples of blood mutually exchanged between the immortal warlock and a willing mortal. The mortal in question served kind of like a sponsor, nothing at all like a sacrifice. They would not become immortal, but their healing rate would increase and their aging process slow, be it temporarily and ever so slightly. But what if that mortal was Nephilim? The Book never mentioned that. Would the warlock's demon blood taint the essence of Angel and create another horror like Jonathon Morgenstern? Magnus had to unmake an important decision. He would not be growing old with Alec after all.

 

~~~

 

Married life suited Alec and Magnus more than Alec expected. Alec relied on Magnus to keep his goals realistic regarding Mark Blackthorne Getting him away from the Wild Hunt was only a small part of the problem. There was the contract-based possession plus whatever personality changes Mark had undergone to be considered. Magnus assured Alec that he could be involved in any rescue parties, but nothing further. Magnus went through phases of humming contentedly as he moved through their apartment. He'd randomly smile at Alec from across the room, or beside him on their sofa-of-the-month. Best of all, in Alec's opinion, was the way Magnus reacted to every addition to their family. Sophia was almost three months old when Jace came to tell Alec that Clary was pregnant, and that he was terrified.

"Clary's all optimism, sunshine and rainbows, and I'm: The Horror!" Jace said with his hands and expression in imitation of The Scream. "I can't provide common sense and discipline! That's your job in this relationship!"

Magnus stepped froward to wiggle the fingers of his left hand in Jace's face. His right hand was still extravagantly adorned with bracelets and rings. The left bore only Alec's Lightwood ring. Alec now wore the one that had belonged to his grandfather, which had been left beside their coffee machine with a congratulatory card from Maryse and Robert when Iz came to feed Chairman Meow. Magnus wasn't allowed to wear his outside their home yet, not until Nephilim authority stopped making threats against their 'dalliance'. "Ahem. _Mine_ is the relationship. Yours is friendship. _Friend_. Your claims on Alec's guidance take second place to mine. Third, once your spawn arrive. Rest assured that there will be no obvious favoritism between your spawnlings and Isabelle's. They will _all_ be more important than you." Magnus brushed imagined debris from Jace's shoulder then gave him a sympathetic pat. "Alec and I offer the same babysitting arrangements offered to Isabelle and Simon. Parental supervision is required for all visits to our Lurrrve Loft until a child becomes mildly independent. Fully toilet trained, able to place food directly into their mouth instead of all over our lovely furniture, things like that." Magnus twinkled all of his fingers then pointed at Jace's chest, flicking that finger up to Jace's chin as Magnus turned away. " _Then_ we can negotiate sleepovers."

Magnus had finally decided to follow Alec's honeymoon suggestion about his hair, and was sporting platinum white with two adjacent strips of pink and blue flicked across a naturally dark eyebrow when Jace made the excited phone call to Alec. "TWINS!" Jace hollered. Alec took it off loudspeaker. Jace's excitement was understandable. Multiple births were extremely rare among Nephilim. "Boy first, followed by girl. Oh God Alec, they are so screwed, I'm screwed. They're the most gorgeous little squoodges I've ever seen! Henry Maxwell has Clary's hair, what there is of it, and golden eyes - like mine. And Charlotte, well, her hair is either fine and blond or she's bald. Her eyes were closed for the quick look I got at her. I only got to hold Henry Maxwell while Clary was busy delivering Charlotte. Then the Silent Brothers and Iron Sisters whisked our babies away to measure the concentration of Angel blood as well as the usual baby checks. You know, because Clary and I, Valentine's experiments on us... Do you mind, Alec? Do you think Izzy, Mom, and Dad will mind that I'm giving my boy Max's name? We were only expecting one, and Jocelyn was certain of a girl."

Alec frowned significantly at his husband's choice of hair colors.

"Surprise!" Magnus exclaimed mildly with widespread fingers then pointedly looked for flaws in the beaded cuffs of his hemp and linen shirt.

Alec put Jace at ease. "You're family Jace, and just as entitled to use Max's name. I think Mom'll be thrilled. You were always Max's favorite, anyway." Alec hoped he didn't sound bitter about that. He had been for a long time.

"Only because I made sure to be his favorite! Somebody had to love _me_ most. You've always been Izzy's favorite. Even when you thought you were in love with me you took her side against mine, so shut up with whatever you were going to say. I'm too terrified and elated to properly make jokes about this yet. TWINS. It's so freaking scary. You're so lucky to only ever be an uncle and never a ... wait ... um, the inability to make your own babies isn't a sensitive issue with you or Magnus is it?"

"Time for you to shut up, Jace."

"Goodbye," Magnus sang just loud enough for Jace to hear and then reached across to snap Alec's phone shut. Then he sat without looking at Alec, while trying to make it not seem he was deliberately not looking at Alec. His nimble fingers danced together as he pressed both hands together between his knees.

"This isn't prompting you to break up with me again, is it? Your decision to remain immortal, my mortal family expanding..." Alec tried to be flippant but could see that Magnus recognised the familiar tinges of anger and fear. Alec rather wished he'd asked why Magnus changed his mind after spending the majority of their honeymoon convincing Alec that becoming mortal was what Magnus wanted.

Magnus nudged Alec with one knee. "And miss the opportunity to pass my impeccable fashion sense on to your increasing brood of nieces and nephews?! Think of all the raunchy jokes I can tell once they're old enough to appreciate them! I should start writing some down..." He snapped his fingers for a blank notebook and purple felt tip pen. Alec slapped pen and notebook to the ground then pinned Magnus to the sofa but his shoulders and straddled him.

" _We_ should make the most of our adult alone time before we get asked to babysit," Alec said while opening the wooden buttons of Magnus's shirt.

"Yes," Magnus said slowly and tilted his head back so Alec could kiss his throat. "Yes we should."

 

~~~

 

Breath could be whisked away by the most ridiculous of things, thought Magnus, as Alec insisted he get used to being referred to as Uncle Magnus. "Their children, and possibly grandchildren, will call you that too," Alec said during their first visit to Jace and Clary's twins. "Unless you're sick of my family by then. Our family," Alec amended awkwardly. "Although you didn't expect to be living that long when you asked to become part of it."

"The reason I asked to become part of it hasn't changed," Magnus said with a pointed look that was no doubt also slightly pained. Alec opened his mouth to reply, but Isabelle stepped between them before any sound came out.

"Then it must be your turn to meet Henry Maxwell," said Isabelle, holding the child forward like a tray of petits fours she would drop to the floor if the intended recipient declined her offering.

Magnus accepted the squirming bundle of Nephilim infant. "Hush now," he told Henry. The child's golden eyes gained focus and caught firm hold of Magnus's green-gold ones. Magnus felt a jolt, yet received no vision or other sensation before Henry blinked and set him free. _What in the realms was that?_ Panic at not knowing made Magnus want to throw the child to someone else. Every other instinct ensured he did the opposite. He felt ridiculously safe with Henry Maxwell in his arms and reluctantly handed the boy over to receive Charlotte. Magnus half expected something similar to occur when Charlotte turned her green eyes his way. Nothing. Normal baby. Perhaps, because Henry's eyes held the evidence of his concentrated Angel blood, and Magnus's showed his demon paternity, the two had briefly been drawn together like opposite magnetic poles. Plus the unexpected marital wobble... No doubt Magnus had exaggerated the moment. Warlocks were also human, after all. He deliberately took a closer look at Charlotte's features. "Not bald," he murmured to her with a smile. "Very fine fuzz of potentially strawberry blond hair, possibly invisible to the mundane human eye."

Charlotte stretched out the five perfectly tiny fingers of one hand as she yawned and scrunched her eyes closed.

Magnus remembered his mundane mother suddenly staring at him with horror instead of love, shortly before he'd had to seek sanctuary from her mundane husband. The change in his eyes had let them know that man was not Magnus's father. The same eyes Alec now looked into with adoration as he whispered "You'll always be more beautiful than any of our nieces or nephews. I'm so glad you're mine." The kiss he gave Magnus's cheek almost erased some of that childhood pain. Magnus would have melted into the moment, if he hadn't been struck by the vision of lightning in Alec's eyes...

 

~~~

 

Alec felt that subtle shift in Magnus again during foreplay. Alec grabbed him by the chin. "Why did you pull away from me this time? For the same reason as the other times you pretend to ignore it and try to keep going with what you were doing as usual? Will I have to wait for the book to come out to learn what's going wrong here?"

"Visions," Magnus admitted, "not the usual blood and bone ones."

"That's all you needed to say," Alec said then guffly rolled away. He'd been looking forward to fooling around with Magnus all day. No chance of that now! Yet he still responded to the touch of his lover's hand on his shoulder.

"Really? You don't want to interrogate me for details?" Magnus asked. He kissed Alec's shoulder.

Alec rolled over to face him again. Magnus looked afraid, and in need of the intimate contact Alec had tried earlier to provide. "Do you need prompting before you feel comfortable enough to share details of these particular visions?" Alec asked. Magnus nodded. "Are they part of the reason you don't want to grow old with me anymore?" Alec asked quietly.

Magnus touched their noses together. "I still want to grow old with you, but don't believe the process would have a positive outcome for the rest of our world. As your nieces and nephew grow, and these visions persist, I'm increasingly afraid that I'll weaken. That that's _why_ these visions persist."

Alec kissed him. He didn't know what else to do. They had the same concerns about almost everything, so he didn't press for details. He was so relieved that there wasn't a problem within their marriage. One prospect frightened Alec, though. "Could it involve Henry? Is there some sinister reason he doesn't have a voice?"

Magnus shook his head. "I've had Catarina apply all her medical as well as magical training when we've examined that boy. Nothing. Charlotte talks more than enough for them both, so perhaps he simply doesn't bother." Magnus drummed his fingertips against Alec's shoulder, watching them dance across Alec's skin rather than looking at Alec directly, which meant Magnus was thinking something through. "Perhaps Charlotte simply talks for them both."

Alec cautiously broached a potentially sensitive subject. "Has Henry shown you things, without physically pointing them out? Things that interest or, maybe, worry him?"

Magnus leaned back slightly and huffed with relief. "It's not because of my demon eyes! But, then why?" he asked with a mild frown.

"You're his favorite uncle, that's why. Whenever we argue in front of the little ones, Henry looks at you and I see, through his eyes, how magnificent and upset you are."

"Hate to tell you, Alec, but when our nephew looks at you in those same circumstances, he sees his hero feeling sad. He loves his parents, and especially his sister, but sees you as something more than human."

"Probably because I've managed to claim and almost tame the High Warlock of..." Alec's sentence was stifled with a pouncing hug and kiss from Magnus.

"I love you Alec Lightwood," Magnus said with bright eyes. "I love the family you've given me. The decision to remain immortal has never been more agonising than at this very moment. If only I could be sure which path is the right one, I would be entirely happy with our life right now." Then he kissed Alec with mischief in his expression. "Now: fuck me husband, and I will show you how far from tame I remain!"

 

~~~

 

Adolescent dramas seemed to feature heavily in warlock lives, if the current conversation between Tessa and Magnus was any indication.

"...seems to hinge on Emma's choice between Mark and Julian Blackthorn," said Tessa. She'd traveled from Los Angeles to New York without Jem specifically to discuss developments and consequences of Mark's return. He hadn't physically aged during his time with the Wild Hunt and had almost immediately made his attraction to Emma known. The attraction was mutual, but Emma's affection was almost equally shared between Mark's younger half-brother. A situation painfully familiar to Tessa and Jem, although Magnus insisted privately to Alec that Tessa had always ultimately chosen with her heart. "If Emma chooses Mark, it won't be because he's Mark, but because Julian is her parabatai," Tessa concluded with great sympathy for all involved. Alec understood why Magnus held this much younger warlock in such high esteem, and he'd developed a greater respect for warlocks in general because of it.

"Wrong choice for the wrong reason," Magnus murmured against steepled fingers.

"Meaning Emma definitely won't choose Julian _because_ he's her parabatai, and that form of relationship is illegal between them," Alec added with equal frustration.

" _Our_ relationship is also illegal," Magnus grunted.

"I was older than Emma is now when we entered ours. The first time," Alec added pointedly. "I married you as an adult. No one can accuse us of making rash relationship decisions!"

"Nephilim authorities don't know we're married," Magnus pointed back.

"Are you accusing me of letting them believe you're a hobby fuck?" Tessa flinched at Alec's harsh language, but his focus remained on Magnus. "The only reason I don't want you wearing my family ring in public, is because some prejudiced twit would try to chop it off, probably starting at your neck then hacking their way down to your ring finger. Your remarkable eyes would then be scooped out and auctioned off to the highest bidding, degenerate collector of Downworlder trophies -- because such horrible people still exist, Magnus. Tell me you deserve such a fate and I'll formally announce our marriage at the next Council meeting!"

"No, I wasn't accusing you," Magnus said blandly. Then his lips quirked into a kissable smile. "But I might in future, just so you'll defend me so passionately again. You're astoundingly beautiful when..."

Tessa cut him off. "Yes he is, but that won't help convince the Clave to update the regulations between parabatai -- or Shadowhunters and Downworlders."

Magnus sat back and spread his arms across the back of the divan as he crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. "Won't happen until the next generation of Nephilim take control. Perhaps not even then, if history provides accurate points of reference."

"Dark statement from a man wearing turquoise silk pants emblazoned with gold-beaded, yellow elephants," said Alec.

Magnus angrily clicked brightly lacquered thumbnails against those of his pinkie fingers. "There will be retribution for the life we currently enjoy together, Alexander. The longer they wait to deliver their punishment, the more we will be made to suffer for living our love."

Alec would reward the poetic "living our love" once Tessa had gone. For now, he cupped a hand over Magnus's raised knee and said "I'd suffer more if I'd chosen to be without you."

Magnus pouted morosely as he caressed Alec's face with the side of an index finger. "Why are Nephilim lives so short that they insist on being captured by love at such tender age? Don't they recognise the unnecessary antagonism they cause themselves? Why are you so determined to endure torture for a moment of intimacy with me?"

"A glorious moment," Alec insisted.

"You two have proven to be no help," Tessa muttered. "I'll just solve this one myself."

"Toodles," Magnus said without looking away from Alec. He did wiggle the fingers of one hand in farewell, though. Alec didn't bother to apologise for hijacking the conversation and diverting his husband's attention. He had a magnificent love to live.

 

~~~

 

Isabelle was a party pooper, Magnus decided. Sophia was almost six, and still Isabelle and Simon would take turns to go out fighting demons and quashing downworlder rebellions rather than leave the stunning nerdling in her uncles' care. Alec took it personally, until Magnus explained that Izzy was doing it to shun Maryse and Robert's parental strategies, not because she didn't trust Alec to protect Sophia. Jace and Clary were cut from the same bolt of stubborn, refusing to miss any life or soul threatening action, so their twins practically lived in Magnus's care when Nephilim crap happened. Alec, as Jace's parabatai, went along to babysit the parents whilst Magnus savored the innocence and adoration of the little ones. Everyone had survived the terrible twos, thorny threes, and awful fours. Henry Maxwell still didn't speak, or laugh. He smiled a lot, though, for such a serious little boy, mostly at Charlotte. Magnus suspected the inability to speak made Henry a more adroit observer than his sister or cousin. Whenever Magnus entered a room, Henry would sidle closest to him. Magnus believed it was due to Henry's tactile fascination with the various fabrics Magnus wore. Henry and Charlotte enjoyed playing dress-up in Uncle Magnus and Alec's living room. Magnus would change the furnishings to suit whatever eclectic ensembles the children had chosen. Charlotte would draw, paint, or make shadow puppets all over the walls. Magnus sometimes put on traditional Indonesian puppet plays that held Alec in thrall as solidly as the children.

Every birthday made Magnus that little bit sadder that he wasn't aging with them. Every day made him more confused about his vision of war-angel Alec. Alec remained warm and enthusiastic - the Alec he'd originally revealed only to Magnus, and that initially by accident. Alec steadfastly represented everything that was wonderful and secure about love. Yet, at random moments, Magnus still saw Alec's fog-feathered wings and lightning eyes, and wanted to mournfully weep... He felt the smooth, yet tacky, hand of their nephew press against his palm. Magnus looked down into the gold eyes as they looked up. "You see it too?" Magnus asked. Henry wrapped his other arm around Magnus's leg and hugged him. Anguish fled. Confusion remained.


	6. Live the Life We Choose, Fight and Never Lose

Alec had just begun to relax into the extended peaceful phase of his marriage to Magnus when Hell arrived in their Ancient Egyptian themed living room. He'd just set fresh paper and paints out for Charlotte and wooden blocks for Henry in the playroom (which had a chalk board for one wall, white board on another, as well as a cork wall to display various creations. The floor was currently carpeted with a map of a fantasy island with forests, mountains, lakes, and distinctly marked dragon caves) when he heard Magnus exclaim "You weren't invited!" through the wall. Magnus had explained to Alec before they'd begun dating, that the security magic Magnus constantly applied to the apartment prevented anyone but Magnus or Chairman Meow entering without direct invitation. Alec put a finger to his lips, requesting silence from the twins. Henry nodded and stood closer to Charlotte as Alec quietly peered around the doorjamb in an attempt to identify their unexpected, and therefore unwelcome, visitor.

Alec saw only the smartly suited back of the man.

"A father needs no invitation to visit his son," the 'man' told Magnus in a smooth voice. But he was not a man at all. Asmodeus! Magnus's demon father! "Is this an inconvenient time to offer congratulations on your farce of a marriage, since you failed to invite me to your nuptials? Perform my fatherly duty and check on your progress, or lack thereof?"

Alec leaned back into the playroom, on ear aimed outside in hope of hearing without being seen.

His thoughts ricocheted off each other like the unintelligible insults Magnus and Asmodeus dealt each other. One pinged louder than the rest: Angels could be killed. Jonathon Morgenstern had severed the wings from Ithuriel's back and then somehow slaughtered him. Jonathon and Valentine had access to demonic practices that other Shadowhunters did not, just as Jace and Clary had access to Angelic powers. He glanced at the twins. Charlotte had Clary's gift for creating runes. But what about Henry? Henry appeared to be waiting for something. Alec crouched down to his nephew and niece's eye level and spoke barely above a whisper. "Uncle Alec needs some very particular runes to free Uncle Magnus from a demon out there. Will you be able to see his face and show what he looks like to Charlotte just from my memory?" Alec concentrated on Asmodeus as they' seen him in Edom. Henry shook his head. "If I'm looking directly at him?" Alec asked. Henry nodded rapidly and began looking for the stele-shaped charcoals Nephilim children used to practice runes outside of their classrooms. Alec momentarily stared at the children with pride. He touched Charlotte's shoulder. "Nothing that happens will be your fault if there are no runes for what I'm asking."

"Okay, Uncle Alec. I know." Inspiration must have already struck, because Charlotte immediately arranged three sheets of paper in a triangle and began drawing on one.

"Not yet," Alec whispered. "I'll need Henry to show me as you go so I get it exactly right." He took the bow and quiver of arrows from a rune-sealed compartment on top of their toy cupboard. Neither child indicated surprise. Alec had begun practical training as well as theoretical with the children when Sophia turned four. No child in his care would ever be as defenseless as Max.

"I can give you two in here," Charlotte whispered. "The heart and kidney ones. But the head rune needs to fit the face the demon wears now."

Henry tapped Alec's leg then held the fingers of one hand in a three-pronged shape. His left hand raised a single finger.

"All three at once?" Alec asked. Henry nodded then reached over his own shoulder to tap his back. "From behind?" Henry nodded again. Alec kissed the red mop of hair on his nephew's appropriately serious head. The boy hadn't inherited that solemnity from Clary or Jace! "Ready Charlotte?" Alec asked, stele and arrow in hand.

"Kidney first, has to be right kidney. Don't know why. Silly pictures never tell us _why_ ," Charlotte murmured her complaint and Henry nodded sharply as his sister drew a squiggled half circle pierced by two straight lines. Charlotte traced it with her finger for Alec to follow and copy onto an arrowhead. Henry abruptly squeezed Charlotte's arm and stared at her with wide eyes as Alec completed the arrow for his father-in-law's heart. "... won't be fast enough?" Charlotte asked then gripped her brother's arm just as tightly. "No, Henry Maxwell! I won't let you!"

Thankfully, or perhaps not, the voices in the living room had become loud enough to prevent demon-father and warlock-son hearing her, or Alec's hissed response. "What?"

"There won't be time for you to look, then see and draw the head rune before Uncle Magnus's father... Henry's going to run out there to look..."

"Can't you just see him now through Magnus?" Alec asked Henry.

Charlotte let go of Henry then prepared her charcoal as he bolted from the playroom and she bluntly replied "We need to see this level of demon through Angel eyes. Magnus has demon eyes. Are you watching me, Uncle Alec?" Charlotte asked crisply.

Alec ignored the terror devouring his innards and stared at the charcoal in Charlotte's hand. "Yes. How...?"

"Henry Maxwell just knows. Now!" Charlotte exclaimed with relief and began to draw the most complicated rune Alec had ever seen as Asmodeus roared.

"WHAT IS THAT?!? Did you _breed_ with the cloying Nephilim pustule that followed you into my realm?"

"This brave and glorious boy is my nephew. And my husband is in EXTREME trouble for leaving whatever portal open so this boy could get in! Quickly, silly goose, back to where you came from..."

"I'll get rid of it for you."

A sequence of sizzles and cracks accompanied Magnus's "No you won't!" and the rapid retreat of Henry's feet. There were tears in the five year old's golden eyes as he ran past Alec to stand guard over Charlotte. Alec had no time to comfort either of them. If Magnus died, they all died.

"You are my greatest disappointment Magnus. A child with your talents should have claimed this world on his own behalf by now, if not mine! Instead you waste it on performing tricks and providing trinkets for the Nephilim you like to fuck." The words carried. Alec pressed his back against the doorjamb, using it as an axis as he swung out, arrows already nocked and beginning to glow at the tip. He took aim... "Perhaps I should have demanded your dick in Edom, instead of your wastrel life!" The three arrows flew directly into their intended organs. "What?!" Asmodeus exclaimed and turned toward Alec. Each arrowhead had traveled completely through him, thick with pure black ichor.

Just as Alec began drawing another, ordinary arrow and certain of failure, the hafts took flame. Red devoured Asmodeus's face then neck, becoming purple where it met the blue in his heart and chest, then blazing white once it touched the yellow that destroyed his right kidney and groin. Down to the sandstone floor the white fire burned until there was not even ash. The arrowheads too, were consumed. Alec kept the Seraph arrow aimed at the twin patch of what appeared to be black glass, staining the floor like a perfect pair of glossy tarred shoe prints, even though his eyes turned instinctively to Magnus. "Magnus..." Alec began but was knocked off balance by one child-sized whirlwind clamping herself around his left leg and another barreling past Alec to stand over Magnus.

"Uncle Magnus?" Henry Maxwell asked with deep concern. _Henry_ asked, then was swept into a tearful embrace from his frazzled and rumpled uncle. The edges of Magnus's chestnut-tipped hair were further highlighted by orange sparks. His green and gold eyes were wide and focused on Alec until Charlotte spoke up too.

"Sorry we had to kill your dad, Uncle Magnus," she said with regret made more extreme by her innocence. "But he wasn't very nice."

Magnus looked down at Charlotte, then at Henry in his arms, and back to Alec. Then his magnificent laughter brightened the room more effectively than the triskellion blaze that obliterated Asmodeus.

 

~~~

 

Magnus hadn't bothered raising a hand to protect his eyes from the tri-fold conflagration, since it somehow exposed the truth of his most fearsome visions. The city of blood and bone had been his father's ambition, the reason Asmodeus agreed to the summoning that sired Magnus. Magnus had not lived up to paternal expectation. Magnus was immensely proud of that fact. No complexes would develop from that! But it was the vision of Alec that Magnus drank in. The arrowheads flickered with infra-red flames, linked to Alec's eyeline by converging rays of ultraviolet as he took aim and let them loose. The light set Alec's bodily runes aglow, even the scars left by those that had faded, in a way that reminded Magnus of their nights at European blacklight parties. Shadows appeared to form wings behind Alec as Asmodeus became an iridescent Roman candle. Then the children ran out. Charlotte wrapped both arms around Alec's left leg but Magnus saw imprints of others, like outlined fog, gathered behind Alec. Mundane, warlock, werewolf, vampire, even warlock and Faerie children were sheltered beneath wings that were no longer illusion. Alec kept his next arrow pointed at the stain of Asmodeus (Magnus hoped that wouldn't remain through every decor change) and turned the full force of his gaze onto Magnus. "Magnus..." The name rolled through the blood pounding inside Magnus's skull, like thunder!

The spectral children reached up to pluck a feather from Alec's wings, each becoming a different weapon -- sword, dagger, arrow, poniard -- then sparking with the blue glow of active Seraph blades.

"Uncle Magnus?" Henry Maxwell asked, and the vision imploded with a snap.

Magnus caught hold of their miraculous nephew without looking away from Alec, still righteously ferocious despite being his usual, ordinary self and not an awesome Nephilim of doom. Then Charlotte apologised on her family's behalf for working together to destroy Asmodeus, the true bane of Magnus's existence. "But he wasn't very nice," Charlotte added primly. Magnus laughed with pure joy and appreciation. He carried Henry Maxwell across the living room to the others, stepping around the Asmodeus stain on the floor, and hugged them all together.

"You should apply to teach in the Academy," Magnus told Alec after a series of softly relieved kisses. "And we need to start growing old together."

Alec let go of Charlotte and Henry in order to throw both arms around Magnus. They shared a jubilant, passionate kiss that bordered on inappropriate for children.

"Told you," Henry said to Magnus.

"Adults never look or listen properly. Even magnificent warlock uncles," Charlotte said with a grimace. "Let's go play before one of them tells us to scrub the crusty Asmodeus muck off the floor," she added in a hasty whisper. Magnus and Alec chuckled against each other's lips as the twins scarpered.

 

~~~

 

Not a word passed between them once they were alone and in bed. The apartment was comfortably dark and silent after the noise and mess of the day. Magnus felt Alec turn toward and then over him in their bed. Alec didn't ask or demand as he usually did when making an amorous advance, simply kissed Magnus on the mouth. Magnus kissed him back just as plainly, hoping for more. They both smelled of cinnamon toothpaste, sandalwood shower products, and body heat. He could hear each individual breath they took, could feel their chests swell and recede as Alec lay on Magnus to kiss him again. The meeting and parting of their lips was audible, barely, but enough to be enticing. They held each other and continued kissing with the same, firm motion as though it would prevent them from floating away. Magnus's inhale and exhale seemed loud as Alec smoothed a hand over a bare bicep while moving his mouth along Magnus's jaw, down one side of his neck and across his lightly-haired chest. Magnus had stopped removing all body hair from the neck down so he could at least enjoy the illusion of physically maturing with Alec. He'd come to bed feeling weary in his bones, been soothed by his lover's presence beside him, to be rejuvenated now with every touch. He had to touch Alec in return, caress him firmly from hips to upper ribs and back, repeatedly and slowly to pace Alec's oral journey down Magnus's torso. Alec's hands and mouth were perfectly warm, but his bodyweight provided the most nourishment for Magnus's starving soul. Magnus needed Alec to not rush. Mostly, though, he needed Alec.

Magnus almost broke their beautiful silence with a gentle moan as Alec slid his right hand over Magnus's left buttock and gave it a light caress before holding it firmly. Magnus felt his own dick grow hard and hot and had to grab Alec's shoulders when the tip touched Alec's chin, to avoid making unwelcome noise. They were never this deliberately quiet while making love, even when guests stayed overnight. Magnus didn't want to ruin it. He exhaled long and ecstatic as Alec caught hold of Magnus with his mouth. Magnus let Alec set the pace this time. He massaged Alec's neck and shoulders as Alec's lips, tongue, palate, and inner cheek rubbed and squeezed his cock. Alec stopped briefly to curl his arms around Magnus's thighs, which meant he was going to swallow him deep. Magnus's balls moved in anticipation. He had to _not_ thrust up into Alec's face. Patience would bring a sticky hot reward. Impatience would make Alec gag. They deserved such tranquil intimacy after a day of urgent fuss. Magnus concentrated on the suction and slide Alec was providing purely to give Magnus pleasure. This dangerously gorgeous man, capable of killing, gave Magnus increasingly deep and vigorous head because he loved him. Had done the seemingly impossible, and obliterated a ruling demon to stop it threatening the one he loved. Man, warlock, because he was both? No -- because he was Magnus. Alec knew the risks of being with Magnus, had known all along, and despite the associated danger to his extended family, believed Magnus was worth loving, and that Magnus's love was a treasured gift rather than a novelty prize. Magnus couldn't help it. He rolled his hips and clutched Alec's hair as he came. "Swallow," Magnus barely whispered, even though Alec was already complying without being told. "Swallow me whole. Buoyed by your love for me, I can do anything."

Asmodeus had completely underestimated the impact of Alexander Lightwood on his son's life. If he'd invaded their home during this current climax, Asmodeus would have had enough emotion to feast on for centuries. What a fool, to think provoking Magnus to anger, fear, or despair could achieve ... Magnus let all negativity float away and wrapped his legs around Alec's back to maintain focus on the wonderful.

Alec sought full body contact now he'd achieved his unspoken goal, and made his way back to the pillow beside Magnus. They wrapped an arm and leg around each other. After some more enjoyable silence, Alec spoke. "What did he do?" he quietly asked Magnus.

"Nowhere near as much as intended. He'd only begun to nibble irritably at the negative emotions he'd stirred when our snack-size hero dashed in. My heart almost stopped," Magnus admitted. "Demonic energies were exchanged and Henry somehow managed to get out of harm's way. We won't know the full effects on either of us until, well, who knows?"

Magnus sighed and pushed back into the pillow. He heard and felt Alec do something similar. After a false start or three, Magnus spoke again. "Henry saw today happening, in a manner rather like my visions yet somehow also like a memory -- only with two different endings. Every time he heard us argue, he'd be even more scared that the horrible ending would become the real one. So he'd give us those little telepathic tweaks to keep us on track. He never saw the roles he and Charlotte would play. But he knew they had to be here to protect us. Charlotte told me. So all this time we thought we were looking after the twins, they were actually looking after us!"

"How long were they living with this in their heads?" Alec asked with horrified sympathy.

"Less than a year for Charlotte. But Henry Maxwell? All his life. Lottie was _not_ impressed to find out he'd waited so long to tell her. Henry justified it by saying Lottie shouldn't have kept waiting until _Henry_ was hungry or thirsty before asking for something to eat or drink when they were too small to get those things themselves."

"Lottie? Is this like that phase where you called people Biscuit?"

Magnus rolled over to glare indignantly at Alec, which would have been effective if they'd had a light on of some sort. "That was not a ph-- mm, no, actually it was. Good point. Henry thinks of Charlotte as Lottie, and her nickname for him is Maxwell Henry. Don't ask me why. Purely to be difficult, perhaps, since she's the daughter of Clarissa and Jace!"

Alec gave a short chuckle. "How did Asmodeus get in?" he asked.

"Aha, finally an easy one! The ichorious blood bond between us was strengthened by my time in Edom. My weakness while in his tenderising care was a side effect of him laying the groundwork for a spontaneous visit. The question that worries me, is why now?"

"Extended personal peace making this sudden "Unholy crap!" moment seem like the entry sign to Armaggedon?"

Magnus rolled over to spoon against Alec's side. "I _love_ that club! You let me take you there during our first romantic holiday. Remember?"

Alec yawned. "Mhmm. I let you take me in the elevator."

"Up _and_ down," Magnus murmured into the curve of Alec's neck. "Thank you for saving my life today. Sleep well my love."

"Talk more tomorrow," Alec agreed drowsily.

Magnus swiftly fell into a deep comfortable sleep, without being disturbed by visions or dreams of any kind. He felt ... _free_.

 

~~~

 

Maryse promised them one day of peace before submitting the remains of Asmodeus to the Silent Brothers and Iron Sisters for analysis. Wards were placed around the undisclosed location where the contaminated section of sandstone would be held until then. "You're all in big trouble," Maryse had said as she'd held tightly onto her son. "Especially you and Henry. Why didn't you call for backup? Why didn't you call _me_ , Alexander?"

Alec hadn't known how to respond to that. His meek "Sorry Mom," felt even more inadequate after everything Magnus shared about Henry during the night. There'd be enough dealing with his mom tomorrow. Alec intended to spend today no further from Magnus than the coffee machine and bathroom required, wearing nothing but his favorite underwear. He watched the way the coffee machine's chrome distorted the inch-tall turquoise, amethyst, and cobalt peacocks on otherwise white briefs. Something about the way pairs of birds touched beaks to form love hearts between their necks and their iridescence made Alec smile and reach for these briefs in the men's underwear department during their first holiday together. Magnus had abandoned the style he'd been trying to steer Alec toward and expressed enthusiastic appreciation for Alec's choice, describing them as the gayest underpants he had ever seen without crossing vulgarity boundaries. _"Applying both celebratory definitions of gay, not the slur,"_ Magnus had added as he handed the display pair back to Alec. _"The fact that you've chosen these brings me immense joy!"_ So much, apparently, that there'd been a drawer full waiting in the loft when Alec next came over. Alec had laughed and whirled Magnus onto the bed in exalted gaiety. Having the bloody things staring out from his underwear drawer at the Institute durng their break up had been less than wonderful, however.

Alec carried the full mugs through to their bedroom and carefully placed Better Than Gandalf on Magnus's bedside table. He grinned at Magnus's semi-conscious sniff and roll toward the frothy caffeine offering. The superbly detailed peacocks on these undies were like little representations of Magnus. Magnus was extraordinary, a bit ridiculous, vibrant, and showy, and often treated cruelly for being all of those things. He was a gorgeous man. And had almost been stolen from Alec again...

Magnus stared in response to Alec's scrutiny. "Hello," Magnus said rather shyly, yet with the smile of a man who knows he's adored.

"Hello," Alec replied in similar manner. The exchange rather resembled the first morning Alec woke up in the loft.

"I adore you in those," Magnus said as he raised his mug and took a sip. "Although a darker background would provide a better complement to your everything. If I could be bothered converting this world into my personal realm, it would be to ensure you wear nothing else. Except for when you'd be wearing nothing, of course."

Alec knelt on the bed beside Magnus, Cupid mug in both hands for stability. "Did you mean it yesterday, about growing old together? It's alright if it was a reflexive, emotional response to everything that happened. But if you're serious, this would be the perfect time to discuss it properly. _Everything_ properly," Alec added. "The possibility of my teaching at the Academy, what's involved in relinquishing your immortality, why the sudden changes of mind, whether Asmodeus still poses a danger to us or this realm, how and why yesterday happened..."

Magnus conjured the Book of the White with a snap of his fingers and opened it across his lap, at a point stuffed with loose sheets of paper. He managed to keep his mug in one hand and hadn't spilled a drop. Alec listened and questioned intently as Magnus went through pertinent points of the Book and handwritten notes, some of which had been provided by Tessa and other warlocks from the Spiral Labyrinth. There were numerous small breaks for coffee and lavatory duties. Alec let Magnus magically steal their meals, but only from Taki's so Alec could financially reimburse the restaurant at a later date.

"I may or may not lose some or all of my magical abilities. So we'd best settle on a full decor scheme beforehand, just in case..."

Alec lifted the leftward curve of Magnus's fringe. "Your eyes, will it effect your eyes?"

"Possibly. Will that affect your decision?" Magnus asked.

Alec shook his head. "I like the dark brown you were born with and use for your glamour just as much these. Will you see things differently if they change? Did you see things differently before they became your warlock mark? Do you remember what it was like at all, before you came into your heritage?"

"Barely, mostly the fear that arrived at its revelation. The first place I took you to on our very first holiday abroad, is all that remains of the village where I was terrorised into fleeing for my life. Volcanic activity and tsunamis reshaped it completely, yet that hub remains. I brought you there to replace memories of hatred, anger and fear with memories of love and acceptance with you." Magnus reached across laps full of paperwork to take hold of Alec's hands. "Our fathers did not believe you could possibly love me, because I am a warlock. You understand that, don't you? They were so set on telling others how to live that they failed to realise you'd abandoned their rules. You want me to live the life _I_ want to live. You've stood up to them both, and to me, so that I can. The first time we made love, you said I set you free. We liberate each other, Alec." Magnus gestured to the copious notes spread over their bed. "Mortality no longer feels like a cage, a trap, or a threat. It's a gift we'll get to share."

 

~~~

 

The Consul and Council arrived at the New York Institute to demand that Magnus, Alec, Henry, and Charlotte all face interrogation by the Silent Brothers. "The Iron Sisters will deliver their report on the alleged remains of the demon Asmodeus in due time. Should their findings contradict the evidence given by your son and the Herondale children..."

Maryse interrupted the Consul's threat. "Regarding the children: Henry and Charlotte are only five. Interrogation by Mortal Sword is illegal on children who have yet to receive their first Marks from the Silent Brothers. James Carstairs served for more than half a century as a Silent Brother. We will agree to let him act as liason between the children and the Silent Brothers."

"Do you seek similar compromise for the warlock sodomising your son?" The Consul asked coldly.

Maryse held her head high when she wanted nothing more than an opportunity to sink the carefully manicured fingernails of one hand into the horrible man's face. "Magnus Bane is an adult, and an earthly descendant of the alleged deceased, and so will face the standard form of questioning. It is for the Inquisitor to balance the relevance of his relationship with Alexander."

"And to determine its nature," the Consul replied smugly. His smirk softened into a comradely smile. "The ongoing fracas caused by the faeries means we can all drop the facade of accepting Downworlders as equally entitled to inhabit our world, Maryse. We will save your son from the toxic generosity of the younger generations. There are no doubt other young Nephilim men with similar tendencies. They shall be encouraged to keep company together, rather than stoop to such thorough degradation of morals. It is time for Clave and Council to acknowledge that like sometimes attracts like, and to change certain laws so our community does not continue to lose talented fighters to the flexible mundane world."

"Alexander followed Magnus into one of the realms of Hell!" Maryse had no idea how to better endorse her son's marriage without providing greater ammunition against it.

"Because it is equally forbidden to seek, yet more difficult to conceal, such a companion among our own kind." The Consul spoke with genuine sympathy, which made him all the more terrifying to Maryse. This is how he'd gained overwhelming support since the Forsaken War. On the surface, his policies and changes seemed based on compassion. Maryse could see that he'd _wanted_ Valentine to win but had never been bold enough to join the original Circle and its uprising. If this creep had been an active member, Maryse would have gotten out a _lot_ sooner! If only Maryse could be certain she could say the same for Robert.

 

~~~

 

Magnus stood with both arms crossed angrily across his ribs. "This again?" he demanded irritably then snapped the Book of the White into one hand as he uncrossed his arms. "There is no need to torture a warlock to probable death with your cruel sword when this truthful rune will stop me telling any big fat lies, or even elegantly embellishing the truth. Enlist the warlock of your choice to draw it then I will dully answer anything you ask. Will have no choice but to, as a matter of fact. Since facts are what you seek..."

"No embellishments?" one Council member whispered to another. "I say hire a second warlock!"

"Agreed!" said the Inquisitor.

Magnus suppressed his glee. This audience of bigoted prudes was about to learn everything they never wanted to believe about his relationship with Alec. The Asmodeus stuff was all boring facts, anyway. This way, Magnus could see how Nephilim authority would react to his hopes of becoming mortal, and whether they deemed his relationship with Alec more acceptable as a result.

 

~~~

 

Henry sat on the small chair in front of many larger ones arranged in a crescent moon shape. Every seat was full. Silent Brothers stepped forward to form a circle around Henry. There were gaps large enough for two more to stand between each pair. Jem stepped into one of those gaps with the Inquisitor and smiled gently at Henry. Henry smile confidently back. "Sword please," Henry said after Jem explained why he was here.

"You are too young," the Silent Brothers told Henry through their familiar mindspeak.

"The blood of two Angels makes it safer for me to hold than anyone else in this room. I'd like to hold the Mortal Sword and give my evidence. If you don't mind," he added to be polite. Uncles Magnus and Alec were very bossy about using manners when talking to adults. Henry looked up at the Inquisitor, and decided he was rather nice. Not like that horrid and scary Consul. "We both know you won't believe anything I say otherwise. Then you'll have no need to frighten my younger sister."

"You are twins," the Silent Brothers thought in harmony.

Henry proudly straightened his posture. "I'm older than Lottie by ten minutes, I'll have everybody know!"

The crescent moon of people stared at Henry and the Inquisitor laughed. "Very well, young Nephilim. You shall give evidence by the Sword. But you must speak out with equal conviction if you feel it doing you harm," the Inquistor told Henry solemnly.

Henry nodded. He knew the Mortal Sword wouldn't hurt him like it had hurt his Mommy when she was sixteen. He'd seen this happen before. He had to hold the Sword across his knees and tell exactly the truth. And he mustn't laugh when some of the people sitting in the crescent moon swore and knocked over their chairs, because they didn't know yet that the Mortal Sword was _meant_ to be covered by those flickering flames whenever Henry or Lottie held it...

 

~~~

 

"They asked about Edom again, too," Alec said once his extended family had returned to the New York Institute and sat down to a very late dinner. It jarred that Magnus still required permission to join their family anywhere other than the sector set aside for Downworlders. Due to the reason for today's interviews, the Consul had demanded that Magnus _sign in_ and register every visit to the Institute from now on. Not until the enquiry was over, but indefinitely. "Not only what happened but why I was there," he looked at Magnus, who seemed rather pale after his session with the Silent Brothers and Inquisitor. "Why I left my parabatai with his girlfriend to search for you. They also asked things about us that have nothing to do with Edom or two days ago. Even without the threat of the Mortal Sword I would have answered honestly." Alec reached the slight distance along the table to hold his husband's hand and rub his thumb across the family ring he'd given Magnus during their handfasting. "I confessed to wanting to marry you again in different ceremonies, and at different locations, so our union becomes legal until it is acknowledged and respected as a marriage everywhere, including Idris. They're not going to let that happen."

"No, they're not," Magnus replied thickly. The whole family must have been choking on the air. "They made threats against you, including but not exclusive to stripping your Marks." Magnus removed his hand from Alec's and looked him in the eye. His sadness made Alec afraid. "I told them I'd remove all memory of our life together before they could try."

"You'd erase me from your life?" Alec asked in an agonised rage. His father's stern and sudden grip on Alec's elbow kept Alec in his seat as Magnus shook his head.

"I'll erase us from yours," Magnus said quietly. "Then go into exile without you," he continued calmly, as though making the most sensible statement in the world. "You'd be protected by wards and such, should they try to ... "

Alec couldn't believe no one else was objecting to this Hell awful plan! He leaned fiercely toward Magnus. "I repeatedly told you after the first time we made love, after you put forth this ridiculous suggestion, that I would rather be stripped of my Marks...!"

"Get this perfectly clear, Alexander: I. WON'T. LET. YOU. You have no idea of the soul-wrenching let alone physical agonies involved! I have witnessed the entire gamut of after-effects. It BREAKS you. Your own family won't recognise you and you will be forbidden contact with all of them! _All_ of them, Alec," Magnus added far less aggressively. "Shouldn't they get a say?"

Alec stared at the adults around the table. Only Izzy, and surprisingly Simon, could meet his eye. "You've already discussed this with Magnus, without me. You _all_ decided that his option is right for _me_?" He glared hardest at Jace. "Do _you_ still not understand the soul-wrenching and physical agony I went through that last time he walked away from us, from me?"

Simon bravely raised a hand. "Izzy and I told Magnus he's an idiot for considering this. My opinion on the matter hasn't changed."

"I am not going to let Alec become not-Alec just to satisfy the Clave's non-sense of morality!" Magnus sharply told Simon.

"You're an idiot," Henry said in five year old sing-song admonition.

"You were less offensive when you didn't talk!" Magnus snapped back.

"You _are_ an idiot," insisted Sophia. "Why didn't you tell those dreadful people you're going to stop being immortal...?"

"Because then your Uncle Magnus will be a mundane instead of a warlock," Izzy explained, "and the Clave still won't let them be together without stripping Uncle Alec's Marks."

"That's poo poo!" said Henry. No one scolded him. In fact, Jace grinned proudly at his son.

"I'd be in trouble if _I'_ d said poo poo," Lottie mumbled.

"Not this time," Jace told his daughter with a cheeky wink. "This time you'd get cake!"

"Well then: that's sloppy poo poo with chunks!" Lottie declared. Jace laughed and hugged her. Clary didn't know whether to scold or hold her husband. Maryse and Robert frowned at the twins' phraseology but verbally agreed with their sentiment.

"Still think it'd be easier to live without this than without me?" Magnus murmured to Alec.

"It's poo poo because it's not going to happen!" Henry called over everyone. "Tessa won't let it. So just be happy, okay?" he asked Magnus and Alec with pleading in his expression.

"Henry-Maxwell," Clary was the only one to say her son's name like that, "how do you know?"

"The Angels, Mommy. Because Lottie and I have so much of their blood in us, they can see through my eyes and sometimes let me see things through theirs. Lottie draws their magic like you Mommy, because she's stronger with Raziel's power than Ithuriel's."

"Henry Maxwell shares Ithuriel's love of being in this world despite all the pain and yuckiness in it, like Daddy does," said Charlotte.

"And Uncle Magnus," Sophia said with a smile for everyone. Her dark green eyes stopped at Alec. "That's why Uncle Alec loves Uncles Magnus and Jace, even though they're idiots."

"They're his _favorite_ idiots," Izzy teased Alec with a smile of support. "Just be happy," she mouthed at him and then demanded Jace provide cake for dessert, since he was the one to mention it.

 

~~~

 

Magnus stood in the doorway of their apartment without venturing inside. He looked down at his hands as they twiddled with the fringes of the scarf Jocelyn had imperfectly knitted for him last year. _"Just because,"_ she'd said. The odd bobbles and gaps surrounded by otherwise concisely woven threads seemed a metaphor for his life. "I'm sorry," he meekly told Alec without looking up. "My mind hasn't changed about becoming mortal, so I wouldn't have had to live quite so long mourning..."

"Cutting the distance from a marathon to just around the corner is supposed to make the fact that you're running away hurt less, is it? You'd rather shape me into whoever I'd have been if I'd never dared approach you, and then leave me, than stay with a mundane version of me."

Magnus immediately looked up and began to deny it. Alec's scowl silenced him.

"You hadn't considered that interpretation of your decision, had you?"

Magnus admitted that he had not. "I only sought an option that would cause you the least pain."

"There isn't one! I'd threaten to sleep in one of the guest rooms or even on the bloody couch if everyone hadn't suddenly been so insistent that we be happy through whatever time we've got left! I am sorely tempted to walk away from you this time, but that would be petty!"

Magnus knew he shouldn't laugh, but he had to let Alec see how much of a struggle that was.

"Oh no," said Alec with a slow shake of the head. "Don't you dare find me adorable and amusing while I'm trying to not be so pissed off with you! You _deserve_ to be pissed off at -- or something that sounds less like some kinky thing that you and I are _definitely_ not into!"

Magnus expected to laugh out loud at that gloriously Alec tirade, but instead burst into tears. "They're going to destroy you, Alec, and it's all my fault, because I love you. And that's _your_ fault!" Magnus said accusingly and ferociously pelted Alec with one end of his perfectly horrible scarf. "How dare a _Nephilim_ be the love of my life? Why couldn't you be a wretchedly smelly arsehat like the rest of them? Well, the majority of the rest of -- you know what I mean!"

Alec stoically received the fluffy beating he so richly deserved, and then embraced Magnus. Magnus retreated and pushed Alec away. Alec's cobalt glass eyes almost shattered at the perceived rebuff. Magnus ran his fingers over Alec's lapel yet kept him at arm's length. He looked directly and sharply into Alec's gaze.

"It's either remove me from your life when they come for you, or I destroy them all. That's the decision I face, Alec, and I refuse to choose the path that would make my father proud." There, he'd said it. Magnus waited for Alec to go pack a bag, except Alec just stood there and took careful hold of Magnus by the wrists, before turning them upward and kissing each one. Magnus stared at him.

"Then until we are threatened directly, we shall have faith in our five year old nephew. Come inside this home you've decorated for us, and be happy with the man who loves you more now than five minutes ago."

Magnus tasted lingering tears on his hitched intake of breath. He couldn't believe his luck! "You'd really marry this particular idiot again?" Magnus asked in amazement as he let Alec lead him through the living room.

"Every time there's a chance to make our marriage more legally binding," Alec replied soberly and traced his left fingertips behind the cuff clasping Magnus's right ear. "So if you do feel you have no choice, please don't exile yourself for the rest of our lives. Let our paths cross..."

"I couldn't bare to feel your eyes on me, but not looking at me the way you are now. I can't," Magnus admitted in a sandpaper whisper. His skin as well as his insides felt rasped raw. "Just thinking about it, flays me."

"And me."

"From our beginning?" Magnus asked in sudden realisation. Alec nodded. Magnus took reverent hold of Alec's face. "Oh my Alec," he whispered in sympathy and awe, and then kissed him softly. Magnus felt the last of his spilled tears slide down his cheek to flavour their overlapping lips with salt. They kissed slowly and gently until the salty taste of their joint sorrow was gone.

"I've always liked who I am when I'm with you," Alec said without moving his face away. "That's never been why I loved you. Even then, while I was just as afraid of being with you than without you, I was able to behave so naturally around you when we were alone because of the way I love you. At first, before I understood this wasn't just another crush on my part, I spent so much time with you so I could learn to be myself everywhere I went. We've been living together for so long. Everyone knew about it. Why does the marriage aspect of our relationship bother them to such an extreme? If we were just fucking..."

"We have _never_ "just fucked"," Magnus smoothly assured Alec. He moved his hands up Alec's arms then down Alec's chest and up to remove the suit jacket Alec wore instead of a familiar sweater with his jeans.

Alec foiled the plan to undress him by pressing his arms tightly to his sides and holding Magnus by the elbows. "Making love now means you agree to let me surrender my Marks, if that's how I choose to respond to their threats. If erasing or blocking my memories of our life together remains your preferred strategy, do it now rather than later. You're not a demon. You don't thrive on destruction."

""Surrender" your Marks? You intend to _ask_ to have them removed as a preemptive strike?" Magnus asked in disbelief.

"Not anytime soon! First I'm going to apply for a teaching position at the Academy in Idris and support my husband's quest for mortality. Preemptive rune removal is my second-to-last line of defense. The absolute-last being severely wounding those who stand against us, to the verge of death. Besides, if this mortalisation process takes away your ability to perform magic, removing my Angelic Marks will make us equally mundane. In which case, it would only be fair to do it voluntarily."

"Stop talking and let me get your clothes off before you completely ruin our moment by making me cry again," Magnus said irritably, and shook himself free of Alec's grip. He hooked a finger under his nose and turned away. "Too late!" Magnus sniffed and then sobbed.

"So this is their interim punishment: dropping hints then letting us self-destruct over the possibilities." Alec's misery felt as solid as his arms and chest as he stepped forward to embrace Magnus. They breathed deeply together without talking or moving for quite some time. Magnus eventually felt Alec's words begin in his diaphragm before they were spoken. "I shouldn't have stopped you with that ultimatum earlier. I wanted nothing more than to reverently unwrap and explore each other right where we stood. Needed you to be just as you were, right then. Still need it now. Have I ruined more than that moment? Is it really too late?"

Magnus didn't need time to reflect on an answer, and gave his head a minute shake. "No Alexander. You've made us aware that the Consul and his vultures want us to fear our joyous life filled with love, shameless sex, and healthy arguing! They want us to be afraid of making love, but you -- my marvelous Angel warrior -- you want to ensure that every aspect of our marriage remains intimate and strong!" Magnus could not keep his hands from Alec's stonily miserable face. "My talents and snappy comebacks can't protect us from this particular threat, Alec. The Inquisitor took so much more of an interest in you than in Asmodeus, and then you were in there so long, and alone. I panicked. Your family..."

"Haven't all accepted you into my life as fully as we'd hoped," Alec offered into Magnus's silence. "I know. So what hope do we have of convincing the Clave?"

The question was obviously rhetorical. Magnus put his head onto Alec's shoulder while bringing Alec's down onto his. Alec took hold of Magnus by the hips. Magnus let the rings on his right fingers tangle through Alec's dark hair, and felt Alec subtly sway in a music-less dance.

"I love your face," Alec said softly without lifting his head, although he did turn his face toward Magnus and smile as he added "you know that? The shape of your cheekbones and eyes, even your chin is expressive! I never knew a man could be so powerful and gentle until we met. Familiarity hasn't made you any less captivating."

"Or ridiculous," Magnus added flippantly. He kissed Alec and once again began attempting to remove Alec's jacket. Alec did not resist this time and let Magnus go as slow as he wanted, with the kiss as well as the journey to nudity. Alec's gaze was intense every time their lips parted, as though he had to memorise every feature of Magnus's face. Magnus felt the threatening surge of fresh tears, and sought to put them both at ease. "You don't have to do that. Neither of us are leaving. I didn't want you to feel pressured into choosing between me and your family..."

"Izzy and Jace will find some way to bring their families to ours despite my exile. Despite whatever Jace said in front of my parents," Alec assured Magnus with a full-bodied hug. "I'm not absorbing you with my eyes because I'm still worried you'll do the memory thing without my consent. You _know_ what an epic idiot you are for considering it, same way I felt after considering that deal Camille offered me. I'm just overwhelmed by the fact that the magnificent Magnus Bane remains in love with _me_."

"Lightwood," Magnus corrected automatically.

"Magnus Lightwood," Alec said in agreement, and brought Magnus onto the floor once his jeans fell to his ankles. Magnus finished removing them then knelt between Alec's knees as Alec stripped Magnus with a distinct lack of grace for an elite demon hunter. Magnus could feel the shake in Alec's limbs and knew what Alec wanted. He wanted war against Clave injustice without murderous revolution. He intended to sheath, not draw, a sword to win that war. That sword would be Magnus. That scabbard was not only Alec's body, but his life, his family. Alec had called Magnus 'Bane' to purposely remind Magnus that his place in Alec's family was permanent.

"Six years of marriage and I still want more," Magnus said while settling his weight between Alec's legs. He put his mouth over Alec's while stroking and then pressing with his thumb. He tasted Alec's grunting gasp. Sweet ecstasy, a mutual favorite. Alec lifted his legs so first his thighs and then shins rubbed against Magnus's upper arms.

"Get as deep inside my body as I am in your heart," Alec demanded as he squeezed Magnus's shoulders between his knees.

"Impossible, unless I develop a walrus-size dick," Magnus quipped, then murmured with astonished pleasure at the way Alec's chuckle caused his arse to clutch and grasp the preparatory thumb. Magnus took it out and fidgeted into a more satisfying position for penile penetration.

"Your warlock dick is generous enough in proportion," Alec said assuringly as Magnus pushed the tip against and then into him.

"You have nothing to compare it to," said Magnus, and pulled out to push in again. He loved the feel of resistance becoming compliance. The accompanying _hish-shtah_ sound Alec made was unique and glorious.

"Need to reprint your business cards: Incomparable Magnus Lightwood. Mh h hm phuh," Alec's eyes rolled closed as Magnus served him some swift, shallow pumps, then opened wide as Magnus grabbed both buttocks and slid nuts-deep inside. Alec was so twitchy, hot, and sticky with lube inside. His body was fantastically responsive to each long, thudding thrust. "The only dick I will ever need. So full from the start. Subtle hint that you want me to ride you?"

"Want you chin down and arse up so our ball sacks slap together each time I pound into you. Not yet, though. Need you wrapped around me a little longer. Your increasingly hot skin yearns for my mouth and body on you. You want the weight of my chest on yours. Can tell by the ways you move and stay still as I fuck in and out of you. Going to give you what you want now so you'll come all over yourself while I pile-drive you later. Going to drill this hole for more than oil." Magnus grazed his teeth against Alec's shoulder while throwing a swivel at him between thrusts. Alec arched and held Magnus tight between his legs as both arms flopped to the floor in the crucifix position.

"Can't feel anything from the waist up." Alec's complaint was halfhearted, since it meant his nervous system had chosen to focus on the sensation of Magnus consistently filling his arse.

Alec's legs eventually began to lose their grip. Magnus pulled out, turned Alec over, hoisted him onto his knees, folded him into a triangle, bent over him, and used gravity to full advantage. Alec moaned and panted encouragement, despite having one side of his face chaffed against the carpet. "Mmm yeah. That's it. Get it in there. Fucking fuck me. Fucking loud. Like in the Palace of VersAI-LY-HELL!"

Alec produced abrupt vowel-like exclamations as sharp echos to every THOCK of Magnus hammering into him full force. Magnus's ball sack would later feel sore from being flung back and forth to collide against Alec, but for now it felt brilliant. Magnus grunted that he should fuck Alec through their floor to the apartment below them, then through that floor to the next, and so on until they reached street level. "No: continue to the center of the earth then out through the opposite hemisphere. Come for me before I try it. Want to feel you come while I'm still hard and full inside you, so your arse and ring milk me to the pulse of your spurting cock. Yes, yes, like that. Do it. Don't hold back. Gngngng yes!" Magnus held still, letting the shudder of Alec's spine pull him forward by the cock. The spasm of Alec's arse and pelvic muscles squeezed the climax out of him. Magnus mildly spread Alec's cheeks to watch the orgasmic clutch and release of Alec's rim, suckling the ruddy shaft. He could _hear_ it! "One day I'm going to fist that hole," Magnus said without realising he'd uttered the thought aloud. _It's going to suckle my wrist, just like that._

"Yes," Alec murmured in an orgasmic hiss. "Yes please. For the _whole_ day."

Magnus moved his hands in order to spoon against Alec and roll them onto their side. "What if they come to arrest us for breaking their stupid Law and find us like that?" Magnus asked with his face against the back of Alec's neck. "My entire hand twisting and pumping inside your arse?" Magnus was aroused, despite trying to be serious. His dick had barely started shrinking its way out of Alec. His nerves were still winding down from sex mode to afterglow, relishing everything they'd just done and could ever do.

Alec tucked a hand behind Magnus's thigh to hold him close. "How will they break through the security wards of the Incomparable Magnus Lightwood?" he quipped.

Magnus moved his face to beam down at Alec. How indeed!

 

~~~

 

The process recorded in the Book of the White took months to complete. To ensure it couldn't be taken lightly, according to Magnus. That made sense to Alec. "Whenever you're ready," Alec said the evening after their meetings with the Inquisitor. They'd only recently woken up, having slept the morning and afternoon away.

"Then let's begin," said Magnus, and excitedly began drawing sigils above their bed.

"Will I need to sleep elsewhere ...?" Alec began.

"Never again," Magnus assured him with a smile. Alec smiled back and then went to their kitchen to make coffee.

 

~~~

 

They hadn't told anyone that Magnus had begun the mortal transition. Tessa guessed when Magnus had to order a specific foodstuff from the Spiral Labyrinth during the second phase, and congratulated him when she came to deliver it. "I don't think I could make that decision. Not only because I'm on my second, yet first, reason for living. Please don't tell Jem," Tessa said as she handed Magnus the folded paper grocery bag. "I couldn't face his disappointment. He should have been my first lover. It still pains us both that he wasn't, despite the circumstance. Becoming mortal to ensure he is my last will not change that."

Tessa and Magnus both noticed the fidget of embarrassment Alec tried to hide. Magnus looked his friend in the eye. "I may be doing this _because_ I've found Alec, but I'm doing this for me," he assured them both.

"You'd want to be," Tessa said then pointed to the bag. "The apothecary insists that stuff's disgusting and that nothing can be done to mask or improve its flavour."

"What is it?" Alec asked. Magnus blanched, because Tessa wouldn't use the medicinal term. A-a-a-and she didn't.

"Fallopian tube jerky," Tessa told Alec flatly. "Removed from menopausal Iron Sisters and cured over the smoking remains of Silent Brother testicles."

Alec had turned decidedly green. "She's joking right?" he asked Magnus. Magnus hastily tried ushering Tessa to and through the apartment door. Tessa stubbornly continued talking.

"Mundane organs can be used, as they were before Nephilim were created, but aren't anywhere near as potent."

"And you have to EAT that, twice a day, for a fortnight?" Alec asked Magnus in horror.

"Why-hy-hy-hy?" Magnus wailed at Tessa. "Why would you tell my beautiful Nephilim husband about the nut-smoked tube jerky? Do you secretly hate him for being so Gabriel and Cecily?"

Tessa gave Magnus's cheek and brow a soothing caress. "Because your beautiful Nephilim husband should know precisely what his incomparable Magnus is willing to endure just to get _to_ the aging process, let alone through it." Tessa grabbed Magnus by the chin and turned him to face Alec, squishing his cheeks to pucker his lips. "If young Mr Lightwood is not willing to kiss this mouth good morning and goodnight after knowing what you've had to put in it, then he doesn't appreciate you and isn't worth the transition."

Alec angrily snatched the bag from Magnus, unfolded it, took out an offensively shriveled leather strip, and bit into it! Tessa and Magnus were equally astonished as Alec not only chewed but swallowed the generous mouthful. "That is _truly_ rancid," Alec told them. "Yet slightly more edible than my sister's early attempts at cooking. Good luck keeping those down." He handed the bag back to Magnus then went to brush his teeth.

Tessa and Magnus both stared after him. Tessa's hands fell to her sides. "Holy shit," Tessa exclaimed quietly as they heard Alec gargle from the bathroom. Jace was clearly a bad influence on his however-many-times-great grandmother.

"You were saying?" Magnus asked smugly.

Tessa didn't say anything, merely bounced up on tiptoe to plant a kiss on Magnus's forehead then hugged his head to her cheek before fleeing out the door. Magnus stared after her. He would swear under oath that Tessa had been crying, and saying her final goodbye.

 

~~~

 

The letter from the Consul had been signed by almost every Nephilim authority, save a few Institute leaders. Alec's application for a teaching role at the Academy in Idris had been "...irrevocably denied due to ongoing _dalliance_ with Magnus Bane." Alec tossed the letter across the kitchen counter to Magnus after reading it aloud.

"Lightwood," Magnus corrected reflexively as he lowered his grisly mortality jerky with savoury chutney sandwich and picked up the letter. "And it's a _marriage_ , not a dalliance." Tessa's warning had been correct. Not even the world's strongest condiments could disguise the taste of awful. Thank goodness this breakfast portion was the last of it! He'd need to give Alec a mint enhanced rimming to get rid of the aftertaste, or just because. Just because was good.

"If I haven't presented myself to the Inquisitor to discuss the seriousness of my repeated offense by the specified date, a delegation will be sent to place me under arrest, strip my marks and ..." Alec hurriedly snatched the page back from Magnus. "That's all you need to know, really."

Magnus snapped his fingers to magically retrieve the letters. He was still able to that then. Which was something, he supposed. He'd been unable to change his hair yesterday, and had intended to go white-blond for their anniversary at the end of next month. Not that naturally dark with caramel tips didn't keep his husband hot for his soon to be aging bod...

"Except for the part where they threaten to remove your hands and/or warlock marks should I resist arrest," Alec added hurriedly before Magnus could read that part for himself. "I don't intend to resist."

Magnus nodded. "I don't trust the Consul to abide by his deadline."

Alec agreed. "Which is why you won't be anywhere near here, or me, for the preceding week. Don't tell me where you'll be hiding..."

"If I hide, we hide together."

"I'm not going to hide from these cretins," Alec said without disguising his rage. "I'm going to let them arrest me. _You_ ," Alec said with a kiss across the counter, "are not going to interfere. You are going to sit somewhere secret, sipping gourmet coffee and keeping your sexy self safe from my fury at their stupidity. Now, _why_ will you be far away from the hub of danger?"

"Because we can't predict how thorough the mortality transition..."

"No." Alec raised Magnus's left hand so the Lightwood ring was at eye level. "Because this hand, and another just like it, belong attached to the arms of a man willing to eat shriveled lady parts to live his life with me. I want that life to be long. I want this hand to remain attached to that man so he can touch himself with it when he thinks of me. So he can pleasure me with it. Outside, and in."

"In?" Magnus asked, agog. "You mean... today?"

"Whenever you're ready," Alec said in a voice darkened by lust.

"Let us begin!" Magnus exclaimed brightly and led his chortling husband into their bedroom.

 

~~~

 

Alec gruffly shunted objects under their bed. He rather wished he hadn't let Magnus settle on the grand, canopied four-poster with matching dressing table and wardrobes as their permanent bedroom suite. Every piece was a bitch to move merely an inch without magic.

"What are you looking for?" Mr Suavely Sexy even in tighty-whities asked from the ensuite doorway. Did he have to lean against the jamb with his hip like that? Magnus smirked and struck a pose that let the light from both rooms highlight the manly shapes within those simple white briefs. "Seems you've found it."

"Album," Alec said. "Ours. _The_ album. Can't find." The photo album and his ability to speak coherently were mysteriously absent. Okay, the inability to form verbal sentences was obviously caused by the deluge of blood flow from brain to dick. He'd wanted to check their intimate album to see whether perceived changes in Magnus's body during this transitional phase were real or imagined. He also wanted to know whether Magnus had made any additions since the last time they'd looked through it together. Worried that Magnus only wanted to keep images of much younger Alec, which, judging by that predatory gaze aimed Alec's way, had been a complete waste of worry time. "Fuck."

"Fuck," Magnus agreed in a smugly romantic tone. How in the Angel's name did he do that?

Alec leaned his shoulders and head against the side of the bed and opened his legs slightly in Magnus's direction. Alec used both hands to lift the blue cotton restraint from his erection. Magnus made a strangely predatory prowl and shifted his weight off the doorjamb as Alec lifted his stiffening dick and heavy balls so the waistband of his undies tucked underneath and helped keep them on perfect display. Magnus was perfect. The overall shape plus individual lines and shades of him. That look in his eyes as he stared at Alec's cock. Alec gave it a deliberately teasing stroke and moaned with pleasure at the absolute envy Magnus aimed at the stroking hand. "Sit on it," Alec said thickly. "Right here. Get my dark meat into you. Fucking ride it."

"Fuck I wish we'd been recording this," Magnus said while leaving his whities at the door. "Porn talk me some more." He rested his forearms on Alec's collarbone and squatted above his lap so Alec could finger-prep him. "Am I still a little loose and slick from fingering myself in the shower just now? If I'd known you were out here on the floor, all horny for me like you are, I'd have come out all slippery and soapy..." He stopped abruptly when Alec put his dick at that wonderfully warm entrance and pulled Magnus down onto it while thrusting up. Alec curved one hand to support Magnus's jaw, teasing his panting mouth by kissing him lightly then pulling away. The other hand held Magnus's arse cheeks open and up as Alec fucked up into him.

"I can feel that fat shaft of mine rubbing between my fingers while I slide it up and down inside you. Thought it was hot going into you, but can feel how much hotter it is each time it comes out. You're a furnace in there. I can't talk smut now you've got me _thinking_ about talking smut to you!"

"Fucking's so good, don't care. Mmh, hoh, you're a wonderful fucker. Tell me to get fucked and I will, long as it's you fucking."

Alec lifted his other hand to frame Magnus's face. "Bounce up and down on my dick, sexy. However fast or slow that you want it. Just make sure to rub that ring all over me and bounce off my balls. When your legs get tired, lean back to rest some weight on your arms and I'll feed your cock-hungry arse. Make your dick flop up and down so hard it gets a concussion. Except you feel so good I never last that long without runes." Magnus _did_ feel so good. Alec rolled his hips up despite just having asked Magnus to do the work. Magnus bounced as instructed and Alec blew inside him, a sharp and fast ejaculation. If it had been a blade, it would have sliced Magnus in half.

"Don't need runes," Magnus groaned with pleasure as he accepted the extreme upward thrust that delivered Alec's load. "Just need to feed this hungry arse your dark meat a bit more often. I love it Alec, and love that you enjoy it too. You give head like a top. Sometimes I need you to spontaneously fuck me like one, rather than only by my request. This quickie, my love," Magnus kissed Alec fully on the lips, "was absolutely _divine!_ "

Alec made a mental note to remember that. He forgot his initial reason for being on the bedroom floor, and forgot that what he'd been searching for had not been found.

 

~~~

 

Magnus found Alec grumbling the word "phone" while lifting and dropping couch cushions. "Have you snaffled it to change the ringtone again?" Alec demanded once he straightened and saw Magnus standing there.

Magnus raised an indignant eyebrow. "After the last time? Not on anyone's Nelly!" He began assisting in Alec's search. "Where did you put the album after you found it?"

"Album?" Alec asked with his 'Magnus my love, must you speak of things that are currently irrelevant?' frown.

" _The_ album, full of the sauciest photos of us. You were looking for it last week." Magnus frowned at Alec. "Tell me you remember the sex we had on the bedroom floor that interrupted your search!"

Alec's complexion became a delicious shade of red, like the wild apples from a previous century. "Never forgetting that."

"So you haven't found it either?"

"Forgot to keep looking."

Magnus tapped the toes of one foot upon the floor and one brightly lacquered nail against a tooth as he thought. He almost became distracted by the glossy Tangerine Delight adorning his fingertips. He couldn't magic them to whatever shade he wanted anymore. Alec had surprised him yesterday by purchasing and then carefully applying this one. _I won't be able to kill demons for you anymore once I turn myself in, but fixing Izzy's manicure emergencies when we were younger has given me the experience needed to paint your nails so you never,_ ever _feel less Magnus_. That horrible Consul wanted to destroy his precious Alec...! "Have either of us seen either of our albums since the Clave and Downworlder representatives examined the scene of my father's demise? The phone is most likely coincidence," Magnus admitted with a raised hand. He crossed the other over his belly to hug the opposite hip. He felt violated. He and Alec had acted appropriately after the destruction of Asmodeus. Magnus could have snapped those glassy black remains to anywhere and put countless lives or even worlds in danger in order to maintain the veneer of secrecy over his marriage to Alec. They hadn't even discussed that option. Magnus hadn't even thought of that option before now. "We were doing everything we could to keep everyone else safe, and they turned that into an opportunity to ransack our sanctuary! It won't matter that you've decided to willingly accept the verdict of the trial they've been holding without our knowledge. They have all the evidence they need to inflict shame... That's all they want, Alec. To make you _ashamed_ of lewdly consorting with a Downworlder. To taint everyone and every political decision with which you have been associated, with _shame_ , so there will never be another Nephilim like you." Magnus snorted. "As if there ever has been or ever could be a Nephilim worthy of comparison to my husband!"

Alec sank onto their overly familiar couch and stared at Magnus with an expression Magnus had never seen before. It wasn't entirely negative, but had Magnus concerned nonetheless.

"Your hatred of them only makes you love me more, doesn't it?" Alec asked as he processed his own perspective of Magnus's suspicions. "They have no idea who you really are, or they'd realised trying to shape you into an enemy of _all_ Nephilim turns you more fiercely against only a very select few. Jace is more the son of Valentine than you are of Asmodeus."

"I love you," Magnus said reverently. His greatest fear since learning he was a warlock, was that demonic desires may become manifest and overwhelm the aspects of Self that made Magnus a _person_. He hadn't specifically told anyone that or mentioned it in his chronicles, yet Alec knew. "Oh god, the chronicles..." Magnus rushed to their bedroom with Alec close behind. "Which are you currently reading?"

"None. Tessa's latest installment of the Infernal Devices arrived recently. Will is merrily singing about Demon Pox..." Alec looked at Magnus with deep concern. "Which chronicles are missing?"

"Peru, Raphael Santiago, The Greatest Love of My Life...!"

"Never seen that last one," Alec grumbled harshly.

"Haven't finished writing it, since I'm too busy living it," Magnus pointed out.

"Sorry," Alec mumbled sincerely.

Magnus ran both hands through his deliberately random hair as he turned away from the chronicle cupboard and kicked the leg of the dresser. "Anything with a potentially incriminating title, gone!" He sagged dejectedly onto the bed. He was already bored with this white swan on white brocaded coverlet. "They're going to read the most recent one before you. They're now able to see you through _my_ eyes. My formerly unique and now mundane brown eyes that still look at you in adoration, even though many of your runes are now invisible to me."

Alec sat beside him, so close that their sides touched. "You haven't mentioned that."

"You're no less my Alec without them." Magnus felt Alec's touch on his chin and looked up so their eyes met. Alec was giving him a pointed yet affectionate stare. "Oh. OH!" Magnus blinked and grabbed Alec by the shoulders. "We're going to be an ordinary couple!" he exclaimed joyfully. "We'll have rights and ... well, in most places, but ... BUT we'll become more technically married than we presently are! Synagogue? Churches! Maybe Ireland? We'd have to go Protestant, but their architecture is more beautiful than the Catholic simply for being less focused on the ornate..."

Alec laughed indulgently. "I love you!" Alec's smile fed Magnus's joy until their bodies also required sustenance. If a silver lining could be found in any predicament, Magnus intended to own it!

 

~~~

 

With only seventy-eight hours to go before they'd perform the ritual Magnus described as "the sponsorship of mortality blood sample exchange" which began the final phase of his transition, Alec felt Magnus spoon behind him in bed. The spoon swiftly became a fork. They still wore their underwear although Alec's had been pushed down at the back and Magnus's at the front. It made the common position feel sneakily tantalising. They spoke in whispers to amplify that sensation, as though they were fooling around at the Penhallow's the night of the Alliance victory over Valentine's demon invasion rather than in their marital bed. Alec twisted his torso so he could clutch Magnus's hair and kiss him while moving his spine and legs to the rhythm of every, gentle, thrust, as he had that night.

"That's it Magnus, fuck me slowly," Alec whispered against his lover's lips. "Nice and slow," he drawled. "Can feel every inch of your magnificence stretching and filling me. The drag of you leaves me hollow, such a dreadful relief, and then you fill me again. Fill me. Fill me. Ooohwonderful."

"Fill you with more than magnificent cock in less than a minute, keep talking like that. Going to keep fucking, squelch my cum inside you, so it glazes my cock and keeps it hard. Then going to put my glossy cock in your mouth. Fuck your handsome face for a bit and then sixty-nine..."

"Ye..." Alec sensed more than their presence in the room and froze milliseconds before unseen hands grabbed and hauled them from opposite sides of the bed. The abrupt movement tore and burned, because Magnus had still been completely hard and deep inside him. Alec's exclamation of pain was cut short as a gag was tied forcefully at the back of his head. He couldn't reach his stele to draw an illumination rune and Magnus had barely enough magical power to tweeze an eyebrow. Who were these people? How did they get in? Alec struggled violently.

"Add the charge of resisting arrest," a voice snarled smugly from behind his right shoulder. "Say goodbye to the eyes and hands of your precious warlock, Alexander Lightwood."

Alec sagged to his knees in defeat only to be held up by at least two Nephilim intruders. He couldn't see or hear how they were mistreating Magnus. This shouldn't be happening. Eight days of amnesty remained! Eight days...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The seventh (and most definitely final) chapter will be Wheel Has Come Around, Velvet Curtain Coming Down. Thank you for patience.


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